Feral
by IkiPreVet
Summary: Kagome, a psychology professor discovers a strange man on her way home. She quickly discovers that he is a rare case of a feral child. Can she help him re-integrate into society and save her job at the university? InuxKag
1. Chapter 1

So, I wrote something based on this head cannon I have where Inuyasha is actually very smart, but no one in his life has ever given him a chance to prove himself because he's a half demon. This story idea is also heavily based on the psychological phenomenon of feral children.

This is only the second piece I do in a long time, but I hope it meets expectations! I will try to update this series once weekly and will post its updates on a scheduled time. I'm currently in the process of moving back home for the summer and starting my new summer job at a vet clinic, so once that's settled I'll post more info.

I've been editing this for the past 6 hours so I apologize for any grammar mistakes. (My s/o who was supposed to proofread it for me decided that 4000+ was too many words, so I really sincerely apologize for any mistakes!)

* * *

**Feral: **Chapter 1  
**Rating:** T

Kagome let out a groan as she stretched and leaned back in her chair. She'd spent the entire day looking at her computer screen answering emails and working on her current research project. Unfortunately, it wasn't going anywhere, and she was afraid she'd have to flunk the project altogether—thus was the life of a psychology professor at a highly competitive university. She wasn't sure what she'd do if she couldn't find another research thesis soon or she'd run out of funding and get in trouble with the department advisor.

The raven-haired woman glanced outside the window next to her desk and realized that it had gotten dark outside since the last time she checked.

_Crap_, I've stayed here way too late again she thought to herself.

Unhurriedly, she saved her work and turned off her monitor. As she was packing her bags to head out, she realized that she'd have to walk home since her usual ride had already left hours ago. Kouga, another of the psychology professors usually drove her home after work since the beginning of the semester. She thought he was a lovely fellow, but was a little pushy at times. Needless to say, she was grateful for everything he did for her so she didn't press her luck and tell him to tone it down for fear she would hurt him.

As she stepped out of the building where her workplace stood, the fresh crisp air of the night filled her lungs and she breathed a sigh of relief. The young professor had been spending too much time cooped up inside her office, she felt like she would lose it one of these days.

The complete silence of the area was making her skin crawl. The street lamps gave off their weak rays of light and made her feel as if she was being watched as in a horror movie. There was no one in sight, the campus grounds deserted compared to during the day, bustling with busy students rushing to their classes.

The worst part was that her path home was only dimly lit, being a little woodsy off-road on the side of campus. The leafy gravel road made it hard to see where to put her footing, which often led her to trip a few times before making it to her final destination. As she made her way there, the words of her coworkers rang into her head.

"Hey, did you hear? Apparently, the campus police tried to arrest a student last night. He was acting _off_. I'm thinking he was probably on drugs or something because apparently, he was barking at the officers and growled at them when they tried to approach him. You know what's the worst part? He got away! Supposedly, he jumped up on a dumpster and then onto the roof of the science building! I'd avoid walking at night alone if I were you, especially until that weirdo gets caught!" she had overheard from a professor working in the sociology department tell her friend.

But, she was almost off of school grounds now, so she was safe, right? If only life was that easy...

It wasn't even a few minutes later when she heard some rustling sounds coming from the bushes ahead of her. She mentally kicked herself at her own childish fears and turned around quickly to face the source of the sound. Kagome was a grown woman and she wouldn't let some childish gossip make her run home with her tail between her legs.

That didn't stop the cold sweat from rolling down her back or the sides of her rounded face. Her heart accelerated as if it followed the rhythm of a melody played in affrettando.

The pounding in her ears stopped as did her breathing when a strange shadow emerged and walked—no, crawled towards her. It was almost dog-like in appearance and the figure was on all fours. All that was missing was a wagging tail and a long snout. She was no longer certain if what was coming towards her was a figment of her imagination, or that she was truly seeing it. The ground rustled around its footing and a low rumble permeated from the figure. Maybe all those days stuck at work were really starting to take a toll on her.

The figure, now only a few meters in front of her sat still. It had white hair, a man-like appearance, but there was something odd about it. Tiny twitching triangular appendages adorned his crown and focused on her every movement. He was dressed in very few clothes, wearing a simple tattered cloth hung loosely around his hips. Sure, it was a strange choice of style, but nothing compared to what the man was doing–audibly sniffing the air in her direction as if he really was a dog.

Kagome's regained the movement of her muscles as her heart still raced as she took a few steps back, praying she wouldn't trip on anything as she blindly backed up. She was trying her best to stabilize her breathing and not hyperventilate. The raven-haired woman's ragged breaths had the creature's attention and its golden orbs fixed on her brown ones. His ears perked, ready to captivate any sound the frightened teacher was emitting.

The professor had read somewhere that animals could _smell_ fear and was certain that this thing could probably sense her terror. The dribbling beads of sweat rolling off her face and shoulders down her back would make sure of that.

The man never broke eye-contact with her while he crouched lower as if to give himself leverage. The muscles in his face, shoulders, and back tense as he dropped his back-end lower than it was. Not even a split second later, he pounced right on her, white hair flowing in the wind behind him, snatching the purse she had slung over her shoulders. The young professor gasped and instinctively clutched her bag while swinging her arm towards his head with her free arm.

A loud _thwack_ resonated in the quiet woodsy path as her limb made contact with the dog ears. A whine proceeded by a growling noise were emitted from the white-haired man as he took a few steps back away from her. White, pearlescent canines were visible as the beast curled back its lips, threatening the trembling feminine figure.

Kagome gasped as she realized that hot, crimson blood dribble down her arms. The stupid creature had drawn blood with its dagger-sharp claws.

"What do you want, you freak?" she shrieked out while rummaging inside of her bag for something to defend herself with.

The man stared directly at her with almost pitiful eyes. He said nothing, peering at her as if a wild animal was seizing up their pray. He sniffed the air a few more times into her direction.

"Is this what you want?" she blurted out as she waved a plastic container with the ham and cheese sandwich she had forgotten to eat for dinner.

The dog man's ears perked up and he readied himself to lunge towards her again. Panicking and not knowing how to react to the situation, she thrust her free arm out with an open palm to show he shouldn't come closer. Kagome gently threw the piece of food and it flew in a low arc just to drop at the feet of the stranger.

The creature did not waste a second more before taking hold of the plastic container as he tried to break it free of its contents. Grunts and growls could be heard from his vicinity. After a few minutes of fiddling with the container, he had resorted to claw his way through it as he tore into the sandwich.

The raven-haired woman took this chance to back away slowly from the man by a few centimeters would she have to defend herself again. She simply couldn't understand her brain's reasoning as to why she hadn't taken off running the moment the opportunity arose; he _mesmerized_ her. The beast's white hair flowed behind him majestically and looked almost like a fantastical beast her mother would read to her about during her bedtime stories. His features carved onto his face with perfection, a feudal Japanese painting having come to life.

It had not taken long before the dog-eared figure finished his dinner and glanced back into her direction.

"Look, I'm not sure what you want, but I'm going home. I'm certain I'm hallucinating all of this, so you're more than welcome to follow me back to my place," the petite woman said mostly to herself.

At this point, she was certain that she had just eaten something bad back at the office and simply needed to sleep this strange event off. There was no way she'd spent her evening feeding what looked like a man with animal-like features.

Kagome walked away without looking back over her shoulder, but the figure behind her tailed her all the way back home.

* * *

Kagome dropped her bag in the entrance and sloppily removed her shoes. She proceeded to flick on the light switch to the kitchen. Tomorrow was Saturday, so she didn't have to come into work if she didn't want to. She made her way towards the sink in the illuminated room and grabbed herself a glass of water.

Golden eyes met milk chocolate ones as she glanced in the doorway's direction, where her new imaginary friend stood, seemingly lost.

"Look, I'm not sure why you're not answering, but you can sleep on the couch. I have more leftovers in the fridge if you want some. Make yourself at home."

By this point, she was certain she'd officially hit insanity, so she was just making a game of whatever her sleep-deprived brain was making her hallucinate.

Without even looking back, she waved at him and left the kitchen to make her way towards her bedroom. She locked the door for extra precaution and changed out of her work attire. Kagome slipped on a pair of kitten printed pajamas and crawled under the soft duvet cover of her bed.

If she did the math correctly, she'd only slept 20 hours combined throughout her work week which was enough to make her lose her marbles she decided.

It was about time she went to bed.

* * *

Light rays peeked into the cracks of the closed curtains, enough to stir the woman of her slumber. Her body wasn't accustomed to sleeping more than a few sporadic hours at a time, explaining why she was up so early on a Saturday.

The woman rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and slowly removed the covers, inviting the cold air to wrap itself around her cold limbs. As she peered to the side, she noticed the white strands of hair splayed all over the bed, its owner slowly grunting as the source of the heat was being peeled away from his body.

She shrieked and jumped out of bed. The figure slowly came to and gave her the most dumbfounded look she had ever seen.

A million thoughts a second were going through her still sleep laden brain.  
First, the man had not been a figment of her imagination. He was _truly_ there. Second, the man was nearly naked and had crawled with her into bed. She was so out of it, never hearing the soft padding of his barren feet make his way into her bedroom over the course of the night. Wait a second-

"How did you get in here? I locked the door," she barked at him while pointing her index finger in his direction hastily.

The dog ears folded back as the woman yelled at him. The creature backed away a few centimeters from her accusatory tone but stopped there and stood his ground. He let out a few guttural growls and barred his sharp canines towards her, not scaring her in the slightest. It seemed he didn't like to get woken up from his sleep.

"Look, you can't just come into my bedroom," she retorted and stomped towards the hallway to get some fresh air and process what had just occurred. Kagome slammed the door behind her as she exited her own bedroom.

This was just all too much for her to deal with at the moment.

She ambled down the hall and descended the flight of stairs towards the dining area. What waited for her in the kitchen was a sight she would never have envisioned if it were not directly in front of her. Packaging, leftover garbage, and various pieces of food decorated her grey kitchen titles everywhere she glanced—nearly every piece of food in her kitchen was devoured and their remnants, littering the floor.

She couldn't take it anymore. The sight had exasperated her. Kagome beeline towards the nearest chair at the dining room table and sank into it. Every muscle and fiber in her petite body seemed to weigh a ton at that exact moment. She rested her forehead directly onto the cold wooden surface and folded her arms in front of her. Her breathing hitched and slowly, tears rolled down her plump cheeks. After a few seconds of quiet tears, they crescendoed into sobs that racked her tiny frame. Between her work, her failing research project and now _this_, she wasn't sure just how much more she could take of this crap. It was all too much; her world was crashing around her.

Little did she know; the smell of the salty tears had attracted a certain half-demon to the kitchen. The man took a few tentative steps towards the crying figure, crouched down on all fours in a strange makeshift sitting position and whined softly. This was enough to get the woman's attention and to get her to open her dark brown eyes. She turned to face in his direction while still resting one cheek on the table and looked at his disheveled face. She unfolded her arms and extended her right one towards the top of his head, seeking comfort from the small triangular appendages. They reminded her so much of her childhood cat Buyo's.

The stranger seemed taken aback at the sign of affection and backed away a few steps. What could this woman be up to, anyway? Weren't humans supposed to be chasing him with pitchforks and constantly yelling at him? What was this raven-haired woman trying to do to him?

She approached her hand slowly in his direction, letting him give her a sniff before resting her open palm atop his soft mane. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, letting out what seemed nearly like a purr. This was the closest the two had gotten since their encounter and the only time she didn't find herself yelling at him.

"Who are you? What are you even?" she muttered to herself, stroking the soft fur that adorned his ears.

It was enough self-pitying and sulking. She had to make the best out of her situation since she was stronger than that. Kagome's mother had always told her to carry out what she had started, so she knew that she couldn't simply give up. She'd have to make do with what she was served and that was that.

The woman took her hand away from his soft head and pointed towards herself, "My name is Kagome. Ka-go-me."

That left the dog-boy cocking his head sideways and blinking a few times at her strange gestures. He whined at the loss of contact. He thought it actually felt kind of _nice_. Bizarre, of course, since he'd experienced nothing like it before, but nice.

"C' mon, I'm sure you can speak. Say it. Ka-go-me," she insisted once more, pointing towards her face.

After a few more silent seconds passed by, the man attempted to make a rumbling noise at the back of his mouth. A gruff "Kah," was muttered from his mouth, fangs seemingly in the way of his poor attempt at human speech.

"Yes, that's right! Very good! You're getting there," she cooed, treating him like a child. What in the world was she doing? What in the world had she gotten herself into?

The higher-pitched feminine voice had the white-haired man more at ease. It was better than getting yelled at. Maybe he could get used to this.

"Look, I have work to do and I have to clean the disaster you've made in the kitchen. If you could stay out of trouble while I accomplish all of this, that would be wonderful. I'll put the TV on for you or something, okay?" Kagome explained as she pushed herself up from the kitchen chair.

* * *

She stared at her laptop cradled in her lap while she was wrapped up by a fuzzy blanket on the couch, working alongside her new companion. He hadn't attempted to say anything since this morning and was glued to the TV since she had turned it on. He was still wearing the torn piece of cloth around his waist, so she figured she should probably do something about it sooner than later.

As countless thoughts muddled her brain, Kagome was certain she had heard of similar phenomena of children who had grown alongside animals while not being exposed to humans from her colleagues. She was wondering if this was the case for this strange man she picked up. He had nearly no human tendencies or mannerisms and he didn't speak. Above everything else though, she wondered why this man looked part animals. To her knowledge, there had never been a documented case about anything similar before. It shouldn't even be something that was biologically possible.

What if she could use _him_ for her next research project? She could have just made a very important discovery in the cognitive behavioral development field. He wouldn't mind being her guinea pig, right?

Kagome pondered this idea while doing more research on the subject. After a few clicks and searches on papers found from her university's library website, she discovered that when children were isolated from humans for so long, they end up with a delay in their development. This also meant that the longer it was until someone discovered them, the less likely the effects were reversible to rehabilitate the cognitive ability of the children. She didn't know how long it had been since this strange man splayed across on her living room floor had been without human contact.

The professor spent a few more hours looking up as much information as she could to aid in her documentation of the potential feral man that seemed to have made her home into his. Feral children tended to be apprehensive of humans at first, but with enough coaxing, could become comfortable with a select few. Once again, she noted that this fearful behaviour was amplified if the separation with humankind was over a greater period of time. There might be little she was able to do to get him to become comfortable with her, but she'd try her best.

This development had the professor ecstatic. Although she now had a strange man living alongside her, she'd found herself a new research project which might save her line of work at the university. She didn't want to tell her coworkers yet for fear they would judge her, or worse, try to cash in on her discovery. She'd be the one to get the credit for this discovery. Too many times had the others taken credit for her own work, trying to appear better in the eyes of the psychology field and the university. Kagome also knew that this field of research was considered somewhat _taboo_, so she'd have to tread carefully on the manner in which she presented her findings and who she'd let into her close circle to help.

She had a lot of work on her plate and Kagome realised she would have to record her newfound test subject's and hers' interactions together. Kagome also knew that language acquisition was something she'd struggle to help her companion develop, perhaps never even reaching his language skills to that of a normal level for an adult. She wouldn't let this get her down though; she'd see this project though.

The woman's reverie was broken when a very gruff voice coming from the man crouched onto the ground now staring at her emitted the word, "Kagome."

She stared at him in incredulously. He had just _spoken_. He shouldn't have been able to. Not this early on, anyway, according to the piles of studies she had spent her afternoon reading.

Excitedly, she replied while pointing to herself, "Yes, yes that's me!"

He answered her enthusiasm with a toothy grin and turned back to watch the dancing pictures appearing on the screen in front of him.

The young woman hastily created a new folder on her laptop screen and named it "Inu", dog, with just a few clicks.

She was in for a wild ride.

* * *

Their first day together had passed by in a flash. That meant that she still had tomorrow to work with him before having to return to work. Or, she could find a way to sneak him into the university. He looked young enough to pass for a student. But, she wasn't convinced she'd be able to as there was still something off about him.

It was when dinner time rolled around that she realized she'd have her work cut out for her. She'd reprimanded the man several times as he tried to snatch the steak and peppers frying over the stove while she was preparing the rice.

"Stop, or you won't get any dinner. Sit down at the table and wait until it's ready," the woman scolded as she smacked his arm away with the rice ladle.

His ears drooped slightly, but he looked at her confusingly. As the woman attempted to drag him to the chair and get him to sit, he growled every time she tried to lay a hand on his arm. His claws extended out, signifying his displeasure at the touch she was offering him.

He's just not ready yet, Kagome told herself as she made her way to the table.  
She sat down in a chair at the dinner table and pointed to the one adjacent of her, "Sit."

To her surprise, he made his way over to her location and sat quietly in the designated seat. As she returned towards her kitchenette, he had his eyes tracking her every movement as she fumbled around the stove to prepare the enticing dinner. There was no way he'd let that woman eat all the deliciously smelling food all to herself he told himself indignantly.

When she returned along with a dish full to the brim with steaming hot rice topped with beef and peppers, her companion's ears perked up. He greedily reached out his arm to grab the bowl of food. She tried to hand him some chopsticks, but it was just too late. The man had already proceeded to dunk his entire face within the food and was nearly inhaling it.

She tried several times to get his attention away from his meal but to no avail. Sighing and knowing that there was nothing that could be done, she hoped that he could at least learn a thing or two from this interaction and watch her in action. Kagome pulled out her laptop and jotted a few notes before putting it away to eat her portion of the meal. The professor proceeded to eat her own dinner, picking up the food at a normal pace along with the proper tool, visibly chewing between bites, setting off a proper example to the odd man sitting across from her.

It was only after the half-demon had licked his plate clean when he noticed the woman sitting across from him eating food in a manner he'd never seen before. He could swear she wasn't hungry by the speed she was eating it. Wasn't she afraid that someone would come along and steal it from her? He gazed at her intently.

"Are you still hungry? I've got more prepared still, so I'll go make you another plate. Just sit tight," she answered the curious man as she grabbed his plate. The white-haired man growled at her as she removed his plate, but she made nothing of it. He hadn't tried to attack her once since she had fed him the previous night.

When she returned with the dish towering with food once more, the white-haired man stared at her impatiently. Kagome handed him the chopsticks beforehand this time and then followed it by handing him the bowl. She observed him under severe scrutiny as he was holding the pair in one hand while balancing the bowl in the other.

He laid down the eating utensils on the table and brought the bowl to his face to repeat the _animalistic _eating process all over again. The professor noted this behaviour as well while hoping that she could eventually break through to him and teach him to eat like a normal human being.

After they finished dinner, the dishes cleaned and dried, the young woman decided it was time to take on her next challenge: getting the feral boy to take a bath. She was certain he hadn't taken one in a while as he didn't particularly smell good while being covered in soot and dirt from head to toe. She also had to do something about his attire. Perhaps tomorrow was a good day to go shopping for him, or at the very least, dress him in something appropriate so he could leave the house alongside her.

The professor made her way to the bathroom upstairs next to her bedroom. She had no idea how this whole ordeal would go down as she wasn't aware if the boy even remotely had attempted to bathe before. Kagome blushed madly as she realised that she might even have to wash him herself as he probably didn't know how. She never expected that the first man she'd bring home and see naked would be an experience remotely close to this.

A pair of curious golden eyes watched her silently in the bathroom's doorway as she bent over the tub and turned the warm water on, sticking her hand under the flowing water to verify the temperature. The last thing she wanted to do was to burn the dog-man half to death and have him run away from her home forever.

When she turned back around to call over the curious figure that had been standing behind her just a few seconds ago, she noticed he was nowhere in sight.

Oh boy, this would not be an enjoyable evening.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm pretty sure that I'll try to upload this series every Sunday. However, I can't make the promise it'll always be released on time due to the fact that I'm pretty much always on call for work. I absolutely need this summer job even if the schedule is pretty crappy since I'm applying to vet school in September and need a secondary vet on my application. Oh well. My s/o is also on weird night-shift schedules 7 on/ 7 off, possibly changing to 10 on/4 off out of town, and since I haven't seen him for the last 4 months really, I want to spend some time with him. Plus, I'm the process of adopting an adorable kitten, in two Saturdays from now, so I'll be missing in action that entire weekend since she's 10 hours away from where I currently live.

So, I'll try my best to stick to this schedule, but it might not always be feasible.

I also want to thank everyone for the kind words and all the positive feedback on this story so far! It really warms my heart! I originally had no idea how this story idea would turn-out, but I'm glad people enjoy it!

I've been editing this for over 8 hours and I'm certain it's still covered in grammatical errors. I apologize!

* * *

**Feral: **Chapter 2  
**Rating:** M (nothing graphic, a bit more suggestive than the last chapter)

After the tub had finished filling with warm water at a level she deemed acceptable, the professor figured it was time to invite over her new housemate. She'd have to think of a clever way of luring him out because he had taken off the second he had realised what was about to happen.

He was just like a puppy - curious at first, but gone in a flash at the sudden sight of danger.

Kagome scanned the bathroom for the nearly naked figure. Nowhere in sight.

The woman grunted in displeasure at his sudden decision to finally not be in her way. That annoying dog hadn't left her line of sight all day and he was finally choosing now for his great escape when she needed him.

She peeked around the corner of the doorframe. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the dimly light corridor.

Her next stop- the living room. She scanned every nook and cranny of the area, turning over her fuzzy blankets, checking behind the chic cream-colored leather couch. He was not here either.

The same could be said of the kitchen. The white-haired man had not chosen to hide in her barren fridge or one of her cluttered cupboards. There was still no sight of the half-demon anywhere.

How could someone that had pestered her all day disappear just as suddenly?

The last place she determined was an acceptable hiding place for a full-grown man was her bedroom, which she had purposely locked earlier that morning to prevent him from going inside. This time, she was certain she had double-checked the door on her way to fill the tub and she couldn't blame it on her sleep-laden brain like she had done the previous night.

When she turned the knob to test the door and make sure she truly wasn't losing her marbles, it was unlocked.

Kagome carefully opened her creaking bedroom door, examining the room under a very inquisitive eye. Her bedcovers were still in order, tucked in from when she had made her bed. None of her furniture was displaced, moved or their contents jumbled.

Where o' where could he have run off to?

A sudden movement under the bed caught her attention. She quickly dropped on all fours and brought her face close to the ground to get to the eye-level of the man that was now hiding under her bed.

He hastily turned his head to face hers, ears pressed towards his forehead to prevent them from scraping against the bottom of the furniture piece. He had his arms tucked neatly under his chest, resembling a cat loaf. He didn't growl at her, but his scrunched facial features and curled lips radiated displeasure.

"C' mon! Come out from out of there and take a bath. You stink," Kagome pleaded as she lightly tapped the floor in front of her to get him to come forward as if he was a pet dog.

The white-haired man wouldn't budge. His golden orbs exuded determination. There was no way this _human _would get him to move a centimeter from where he was situated. What surprised him is when she temporarily left her crouched position and the room entirely. Kagome didn't strike him as a woman who gave up so easily when she wanted something.

Tracking her movements around the house proved difficult because of his compromised position. He couldn't quite tell where the padding of her footsteps was coming from.

She returned a minute or two later with something that smelled delectable.

Meat.

And she waved it right in front of his nose.

His nose twitched a few times while his eyes fixated on the source of the scent. This allowed her to know that he had realised she had a treat for him.

Kagome mentally and physically prepared herself to pull the piece of bacon away from him when she felt the need to. She had seen how fast her test subject could be.

The professor slowly backed it away at first, wiggling the piece of meat further and further away from him, making the man inch forward. The half-demon couldn't extend a clawed hand out due to his compromised position, and this was frustrating him. A low rumbling noise resembling that of a cat growling was slowly being emitted by the tucked-in figure trapped under the bed.

Her plan was working marvelously.

As the white-haired man was nearing the edge of the bed, she bounced up from being crouched on her knees and took off running towards the bathroom as she figured she wouldn't have long until he caught up with her.

With the bathtub in sight and her socks sliding on the varnished bathroom tiles offering her little traction, this made it difficult for her to reach her goal. It was near, but it might not be near enough.

The creature was only a few centimeters behind her. She could feel his presence behind her, causing the strands of hair at the nape of her neck to rise suddenly. The coiling of her stomach leading her to believe his aura was almost_ inhuman._

It wasn't right. It was _different_.

Not wasting another second, she threw the few pieces of bacon she had clutched within her hand, praying that the man would not beat her in grabbing them before they fell in the tub. Kagome exhaled at once, releasing the breath she had been holding when she heard the distinct sound of a small object hitting the water.

Success!

A heartbeat later, she noticed a flash of white lunge for the pieces of bacon she had thrown in the bathtub. As his body hit the bottom of the porcelain structure ungracefully, the water splashed accordingly. Kagome's bathroom walls were completely soaked, but hey—at least she had gotten him where she had wanted him.

He had snatched the pieces of meat floating lazily in the tub and was ravenously wolfing it down, leaving him distracted while Kagome approached him. It was too late to back away from her when he noticed she was only a few centimeters away from him, holding a piece of cloth within her hand and a strange plastic bottle in the other. He sniffed in the bottle's direction a few times when she squeezed a decent-sized drop of the bottle's content onto the surface of the cloth. A floral scent hit his nostrils at full force. It smelled just like _her._

She had never hurt him yet. Actually, it was quite the opposite so far. She had fed him and offered him a warm place to stay, especially since the air outside had gotten rather crisp as of late. She didn't seem like the rest of the humans so far, running away at the mere sight of him.

But, he couldn't let his guard down. Enemies always struck when their target's guards were lowered.

The dog-eared man growled in protest and barred his jagged teeth when the professor first approached him with the piece of cloth. Their pitch slowly receded as the soft material contacted his barren skin, slowly rubbing circles. The water was lukewarm, unlike the frozen water he had been bathing in for his entire life up to this point, enhancing the comforting feeling of the bathing experience.

It felt so soft. It was almost as if he was being stroked by his mother's delicate and caring touch. How long had it been since they took away her from him?  
Plus, it's not like he'd complain about being smothered in her smell.

Too proud to admit defeat by such simple actions, the man huffed and looked away from the woman's deep brown eyes. _Kagome_. Her voice emitted sounds he couldn't understand, but she used a very reassuring tone while she continued to wash him from head to toe. He didn't understand what she was trying to accomplish by running the wet cloth all over him, or what she was saying, but he would not protest or run away. If she would waste her time being in his presence, that would be her problem.

Kagome blushed furiously as her prediction had come true. The man did not seem to knowhow to wash himself. It had been surprisingly easier to get him to sit still while she actively scrubbed his back. He didn't fight her like a cat submerged in water would, which was how she imagined him reacting.

The hardest part of the whole experience, after that of getting him in the tub, had been to add shampoo to his hair. He was _very_ sensitive around the area where his ears protruded, causing her to have to reassure him multiple times before he allowed her to lather up the stands that surrounded that area.

His white mane was extremely matted and caked in dirt, so Kagome decided she'd have to add conditioner to his silky hair, hoping it would help her remove the knots after it had air-dried. She decided it was a bad idea to introduce a loud hair-blower right away, for fear it would startle him too much. She didn't want to push her luck since he was already very skittish and on-guard.

The only place she had left to wash was_ there._ There was _no way_ she'd stoop that low and wash another man's privates. Hell no.

Sensing the distress in the woman beside him, he detected the changes in her scent having piqued in a way he'd never smelled in a human before, along with the distinct aroma of salty sweat. He turned back to face her, his ears perked and ready, helping him assess the surrounding situation. Eyes glancing around the tile-laden room, he tried to distinguish for any source of movement that wasn't the woman. Had a danger appeared and escaped his watchful eye?

What he felt next made the hairs on his arms and legs stand up. The woman had shoved her hand between his legs, at the level where his cloth draped around his hips. He jerked his head to look at her straight in the eyes, his irises enlarging and his face flushing to shades of a deeper and deeper red. The white-haired man's ears jutted forward, like those of a German Shepherd puppy's who hadn't grown into them yet. His breathing hitched and his heartbeat thundered in his chest.

His clawed hand met hers, snatching the cloth from her slender fingers. This caused Kagome to retract her arm as quickly as she had laid it there, turning around and giving her companion the privacy he deserved. The professor also mentally noted that he seemed to be aware of the intimacy and delicacy of _that_. She fidgeted, her fingers and feet twitching nervously while she turned her back to the man.

"Are you done?" she asked inquisitively, unsure what kind of answer her feral friend would return, inquiring mostly to calm her own nerves.

The room had grown into an awkward silence. The noise of the water droplets falling off of the man's figure was the only thing grounding her and preventing her from running out of shame from her own bathroom.

She peeked over her shoulder and her eyes met those of tomato coloured half-demon. He faced her for only a few seconds, returning his gaze at the bottom of the tub while sitting in a strange dog-like position, his knees raised and his hands completely submerged under water. His pair of triangular Akita ears twitched nervously.

"Ok, good. I'll rinse you now, okay? Don't freak out," she continued in the softest voice she could muster, pushing herself off from her knees into a standing position.

Kagome leaned over the bathtub and turned the silver handle, allowing the water to reach a temperature that wouldn't freeze the poor man. She proceeded by opening the drain, letting the mud-filled water her companion had been sitting in to seep out and grabbed the adjustable shower head. After testing the temperature once more, she carefully rinsed off the suds covering his body.

As she went to cover his ears as one would do when bathing a dog to prevent liquid from entering their ears, he helped her by instinctively flattening them. He didn't pull away immediately at her touch. The professor counted this as major progress. She rinsed the remaining shampoo out of his hair and secured the shower head back to its wall mount. The next step was to add a few globs of conditioner to his animal-like hair. The white tuft adorning his head reminded her so much of her late cat Buyo's fluffy coat.

After she completed her task at hand and every centimeter of soap was rinsed off, she turned off the shower. Kagome ambled towards the closed toilet lid, where she had deposited a large cream towel and a pile of neatly folded clothes.

It was then she sensed that she had made a terrible mistake. It was already too late, and she knew what was coming.

It hadn't even been a few seconds before she heard and _felt _the droplets of water scatter.

Every surface of her bathroom now found itself drenched as the man had attempted to dry himself off of like a freshly bathed dog would. He wasn't the only wet dog in the room - her sweatpants and sweater were now damp from all the water he had sent hurtling around the bathroom.

She glared at him, causing his ears to droop significantly. A mirror image of a puppy, uncertain about what he had done wrong.

"Next time, use this. Towel. Tao-wull," Kagome repeated a few times as she approached him, holding the drying cloth to ease draping it around his shoulders while presenting it to him.

She delicately enveloped his body in the absorbent material, and he shuddered at her soft touch.

She calmly showed him how to dry off, as if he were a child, rubbing his shoulders and back with the towel as a mother would, leaving him to do the rest. He tried to dry the remaining areas that were damp by imitating the back-and-forth movements she had shown him, but he'd successfully dried off most of the water off his body when he shook himself off earlier.

After inspecting him for missed spots and deciding that he passed the dryness test, Kagome handed him a pair of boxer briefs and large sleeping shorts that her ex-boyfriend Hojo had left at her house. The professor also had a few oversized T-shirt she hoped would do the trick. She wasn't sure how the overall ensemble would fit since Hojo had been shorter and much scrawnier than the man that stood a couple meters in front of her. She was also not sure how she'd get him to put them on.

She glanced over at the tall, muscular figure standing in front of her. She exchanged his towel for the briefs, handing him the smaller piece of material. He stood in front of her; the briefs clutched into a clawed fist, giving her a very confused, but curious look. His head was cocked to the side, resembling a dog hearing a noise for the first time.

Figuring it was the best way to teach him, Kagome removed her sweatpants, stepped out of them and held them in front of her in a presenting manner. She slowly grabbed their hem and slid them back on, entering one foot at a time, hoping her new companion would get the message.

"Go on, put them on instead of that dirty rag," she pressed on, tilting her chin as if to give him permission to mimic her.

The white-haired man still stared at her in puzzlement before glancing at the pair of boxers in his hands. Without a second more of hesitation, he wiggled his rear out of the piece of cloth he had been wearing for god knows how long, allowing them to drop on them the floor. He then slid the pair of boxers on, with difficulty, piercing a few holes in them in his attempts to tug them onto his muscular thighs as Kagome had done with her pants.

Kagome tried not to stare at the spectacle unfolding in front of her.

The half-demon was now wearing _very _tight boxer briefs, which she considered an improvement over the loose and torn up rag. It would have to do for now since she didn't have any pants or shirts that would fit him to perfection. The professor was certain that regardless of the T-shirt she'd try to lend him, it would end up looking like a crop top on her very tall guest. Which they, in fact, _did._

"Let's go to bed," she muttered to herself, yawning loudly.

That had been enough excitement for a day she decided.

* * *

As Kagome opened the door to her bedroom and her companion tailed behind her, she was still trying to figure out the sleeping arrangements. She wasn't certain about leaving him on his own in the living room again, or even the guest bedroom, but having a man sleeping in the same room as her gave her a bad feeling.

Perhaps if she helped socialize him more to teach him right from wrong, he could get_ "promoted"_ and get his own bedroom in her guest room. She didn't have faith in him just yet though, that was for certain. Not after yesterday's or today's events, anyway.

Kagome sauntered towards her closet to pull out an oversized duvet and an extra futon which she dragged towards the opposing corner of her room. Glancing back at the white-haired man, she saw him lazily splayed across her bed.

Kagome wasn't having any of it. Although his intentions might not have been bad, the psychology professor did not find this acceptable. She'd have to teach him the rules of her household one way or another if he wanted to keep staying with her. Sharing a bed was just a no-no.

Sighing and ignoring him for now, she set up the guest bed in a manner that would still allow her to keep an eye on him would he be noisy or destructive, but far enough she considered acceptable in her eyes.

"Look, you have to sleep here okay? My bed is off limits," she told him while patting the down-filled duvet, emitting a soft thumping noise.

He didn't look at her directly, but one of his fluffy ears rotated in her direction. She knew he had heard her, but made the conscious decision to ignore her completely. The nerve!

Kagome crossed her arms, sighed audibly and shifted her weight to one hip to stress her displeasure. The man would have to listen to her whether or not he wanted to.

Picking up on her annoyance because of her scent spiking and her audible grunts, he gave up looking at the brightly illustrated book he was contemplating. His amber eyes met hers, but he refused to budge, giving her a stern but confused look since he wasn't understanding what she wanted of him this time.

He was comfortably laying on a soft surface, relaxing and she wanted him to do something. Again.

Why couldn't this human just let him do as he pleased? He could destroy her entire living area in two simple swipes if he wanted to. Why didn't she realise this?

Figuring that he wouldn't come down without her physically dragging him away, she walked towards the bed and remarked that he had one of her bedside books opened up and tucked under his left arm. There was no way he could read, was there?

She concluded that he was probably just looking at the images. She extended an arm out and snatched the book to see which one he had picked.

_Demons of Japan?_ What an interesting choice.

Her country had such a rich and interesting mythology. There were also so many terms to designate demons, gods and deities. She chuckled to herself while imagining the strange man lying atop her as an Inugami. He reminded her so much of the ones in the stories that her mother used to read her as a child.

Her companion wasn't exactly a spirit though, reminding her more of a dog demon. A stupid demon dog that tore into her kitchen the previous day.

_Inuyasha. _Maybe that's what she should call him since he didn't seem to have a name. She decided that he had to have one since she couldn't keep referring to him as _the stranger_ or _the man_. Kagome had no idea at what point the white-haired man had been ostracized from the human population and if he had even received a name at birth.

"Inuyasha, that's enough. Go to bed," she commanded, pointing toward the freshly prepared futon that lay a few meters in front of the pair.

His ears perked up, and he faced her with a surprised expression for a brief second. It didn't take long before he scowled at her and rose.

It seemed like the puny human wanted him to move to a location further away in the room. At least she had provided him with a place to stay, so he'd refrain from angering her _too much_, although seeing her furious entertained him quite a bit. Kagome had fed him and gave him these uncomfortable pieces of fabric to wear which kept him warm, not that half-demons _ever_ got cold though, of course. He figured he'd have to show some sign of respect since this human had treated him better than any of them ever had before.

Plus, she had this stupid smell. She smelled so freaking good and he couldn't understand why she did either. God damned dog nose.

He growled and pinned back his ears as he heaved his body and limbs off of her bed, unhurriedly making his way to the futon she had prepared for him. Ungracefully, he dropped onto the pile of blankets and turned to face away from Kagome's bed.

Good. Then the professor wouldn't have to fall asleep with Inuyasha, who was now cohabiting her room, staring at her while she fell asleep.

Kagome shut off her bedside lamp and crawled under her own down-filled comforter. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt that comforting and pleasant weight of a blanket wrapping around her petite figure. Curling and uncurling her toes a few times while stretching her limbs allowed her to relax and gradually lull her into a deep slumber.

* * *

This morning would be a nerve-wracking one.

She'd have to leave Inuyasha unattended while she went shopping for clothes to dress him. There was no way she'd bring him out in public with him dressed in either just a simple cloth or clothes that were several sizes too small. While they nicely accentuated his muscles, she imagined that they mustn't be too enjoyable to wear all day.

She figured as much as her new roommate had torn off all of his clothes throughout the night. He was sprawled across the blankets snoring softly while in his birthday suit.

Of course, he wouldn't make things easy for her.

He seemed to be aware that she had awoken as his ears jotted in her direction again, twitching slightly as she ruffled her own blanket and slip out of the warmth her bed previously enveloped her with.

Kagome left the room to use the restroom, hearing an extra pair of footsteps behind her. Entering the bathroom, she closed the door on a pair of golden eyes and a perplexed expression. When she finished her business and opened the wooden door once more, they greeted her with the same curious face. He hadn't budged.

Figuring this would be as good of a time as ever, she seized his arm and gently tugged him towards the entrance of the bathroom. They both made their way towards the white porcelain toilet.

"Inuyasha, this is a toilet. Toi-le-tte. This is where you use the restroom," she explained slowly.

Teaching him how to knock would come later she figured. For now, the basics.

Kagome pulled up the toilette seat to demonstrate the first important step.

"Toi," he decidedly managed to stutter while showing Kagome exactly how it was supposed to be used as he recognized the smell associated with the piece of furniture.

Catching her completely off guard and rendering her flushed from head to toe, she turned away in a flash, covering her eyes as she spun her heels to face away from him. She didn't want to get caught peeping at a man. He, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by answering to nature's call in front of her.

_Relax_ _Kagome_, he's more of a child than anything. He's just completing his body's natural biological functions. Nothing more.

There was no way Inuyasha was a normal case of a feral child. He was simply too aware of her expectations and sentiments to fit the normal profile of one. The man was making progress too fast, rendering him an incredible test subject. Despite what was unfolding in her bathroom, her discovery thrilled her.

Kagome waited a few more seconds until everything was quiet, when she deemed it safe, turning around to see him flashing her a large toothy grin, proud of himself for catching on so quickly. He was opening up to her much more quickly than she'd ever imagined possible for someone who had been kept distant from society for such a long period of time. She'd definitely have to note all this after she fed him some breakfast.

"Good job," she cooed as would a mother to her child when they correctly used their potty chair for the first time. "Now you just have to wash your hands. Like this."

She twisted the left knob adorning a white countertop sink and rinsed her hands in slow, exaggerated movements. Kagome then pushed some soap into her hands and leisurely rubbed the soap between each of her fingers. Inuyasha's golden eyes focused on her hands, his attention not peeling away for a second. He tracked every one of her movements rhythmically as would a hawk ready to dig its talons into a mouse.

The woman finished up by rinsing off the suds that had formed between her digits. She dried all the remaining water off with the help of a baby pink hand towel a few centimeters away from the tap.

"Now you try," she gestured at the sink.

Unceremoniously, he completed the task at hand with near perfection when it came to washing his hands. He had, however, not accomplished this feat without leaving a lot of water marks on her freshly washed mirror from splashing as the man seemed to enjoy playing in the warm liquid more than anything.

After cleaning the newly made mess up and finishing the necessary preparations, the pair had an uneventful breakfast. She didn't manage to make him eat with the help of utensils, but his eating pace had slowed down slightly, not acting as if he was on the verge of starvation anymore.

Closing up her freshly typed report with the many observations she had mentally noted earlier that morning, she prepared herself to go shopping for some clothes. Not knowing Inuyasha's size, she determined that she'd most likely have to estimate it, hoping that she'd at least be able to bring home a few items that properly fit him.

She _hoped _at the very least as she watched a butt-naked man lay across the carpet of her living room, scratching his back with a clawed hand, once again glued to the moving images of her television.


	3. Chapter 3

All she wanted was an uneventful morning spent shopping. Some peace and quiet from the excitement that had found itself in her once serene home. Some wishful thinking _that_ was.

Kagome didn't even have the time to set foot into the brightly illuminated shopping center when the sliding automatic doors opened and a tall figure beelined for her general direction. Two other figures trailed closely behind trying to keep up with the enthusiastic man half-jogging towards her.

When he was close enough in view for her to distinguish his identity, she inwardly groaned. _Great,_ just what she needed.

"Hey, Kagome, how ya been? Sorry I left without you on Friday, you were just so concentrated and I couldn't get myself to disturb that pretty face of yours," exclaimed the man sporting a baggy brown sweater and a pair of khaki shorts.

The two other men finally caught up with him, out of breath, panting loudly behind him.

"Kouga, sorry I made you wait so long for me, I really didn't intend to stay that long, but I guess I did. I totally lost track of time," she replied guiltily as she then turned to face the other people who had just joined in, "Good morning Ginta, Hakkaku."

They grinned back as a reply to her greeting, not having anything to add themselves.

"It's no biggie, anything for you my Kagome! Can I ask you a question though?" Kouga probed as he seemed to send a few sniffs in her direction.

What was with all these men and their smelling habits? She'd have enough of Inuyasha always smelling her, and now Kouga too? Her feral test subject, she could understand his desire to rely on his senses, but why of all things was her coworker acting oddly towards her too?

Kagome mentally shuddered at his unwanted attention. Not that Kouga was a bad guy or anything, she just wasn't interested in pushy guys like him. Despite being somewhat of a creep, he was still a kind friend who looked out for her.

She nodded, encouraging him to ask his question to get their interaction over with as soon as possible.

"No offense or anything," he proclaimed while raising his hands defensibly, "but why do you smell like a dog? Not that your fragrance is bad or anything, cause it can never be bad, it's just kinda new, y' know?"

Like a _dog_? What was Kouga going on about?

Wait—did he mean Inuyasha? He wasn't a dog per se, although a lot of his behaviours resembled that of one. He was still human, for the exception of his ears, something she hadn't figured out yet and would ask about to her best friend Sango in the biology department for advice in the upcoming week.

How in the heavens had he scented him on her? Did she really smell like a wet dog still? She'd showered that morning, so she really didn't understand how he could have come to that conclusion. The declaration truly stumped her.

"I'm really not sure how you came up with that," she laughed nervously in reply, eyes darting towards the floor, avoiding eye contact with him at all cost.

Kouga chuckled and grabbed a hold of her palm in one hand and her arm in the other.

"Well my princess, I'd better let you go since I have things to do at home. See you at work tomorrow morning," he murmured for only her to hear as he pecked her on the back the hand.

Blood rushed to her face and left her cheeks a rosy tint as she quickly pulled back her arm to her side. Why did he always have to be so bold with her?

She giggled nervously not knowing how to respond to his advances, "See you on Monday."

With that, the man dressed in brown left just as quickly as he appeared, waving her off in the distance as he left the mall accompanied by his two friends.

Kagome sighed in relief as he left her line of sight. She could finally accomplish what she'd come here to do.

Not only did she have enough going on at home, plus work, she didn't need this additional stress when she was away from either location.

To top it all off, she had no clue how her test subject would react to being left at home alone for the first time. The professor had seen how he'd reacted to being left alone overnight.

Essentially, she'd try to make this visit to the store as short as she could.

* * *

She took around two hours before she finished getting all the clothes and supplies she figured she'd need. Grocery shopping for the week's meals and lunches was definitely on her list of things to do as Inuyasha had eaten her out of a household a few days prior.

She trekked back home, arms filled to the brim with shopping bags of various sizes and colours. Kagome had taken longer than expected to make it back home, but the traffic hadn't been too bad.

When she finally saw her humble abode in sight, she practically ran to the front door, unlocking it, the familiar clicking noise of the mechanism greeting her. Good, Inuyasha hadn't opened the front door on his own

But that's not what freaked her out when she opened it. Dead silence awaited her.

Kagome knew from experience that silence was never a good sign when you either had kids, pets, or even feral children in your household.

Hurriedly, she dropped her multiple bags in the entrance, removed her shoes and peered over into the living room. Everything so far was in its rightful place, where it had been left. That alone was strange.

And there was Inuyasha, sleeping peacefully, his head resting on her laptop in the center the coffee table. His ears twitched periodically, assessing the sounds surrounding him.

Odd, it wasn't like him to let his guard down around her. He always seemed somewhat skittish she pondered. Perhaps he felt more comfortable in her presence now? She wouldn't say no to that!

"Inuyasha, I'm home," she muttered quietly, not wanting to surprise him or jolt him awake.

His golden eyes peeled opened as he stirred. Inuyasha yawned loudly as he extended both arms out and arched his back, stretching in a dog-like fashion, ears flickering every so often.

"Kagome," he said excitedly.

She smiled at his response to her arrival and turned back around to return to the entrance. She brought over one bag she'd bought and rummaged inside, "I've got some clothes for you to try on, so you should probably get up."

That's when she noticed his mood souring. It wasn't like him to get upset without her physically touching him, or making him do something he didn't like. It's not like he had _actually_ understood what she had told him, had he?

Inuyasha smelled the potent stench of wolf on her. Why in the world did she smell like a wolf demon?

His possessive dog instincts kicked in, lips curling and the desire to growl at her steadily growing. Inuyasha felt betrayed. Demons of his kind were loyal to their companions, so why would she betray him like this?

Hey—when in the world had he cared what she did and didn't do? It was none of his business what this stupid girl would waste her time doing. If she wanted to go prance around with those mangy wolves, she could do as she pleased! It's not like he cared or anything.

And when did he start identifying as a dog demon? He was over all that.

"Keh," he spat out indifferently, pretending like he hadn't noticed the stench at all.

He'd play it off like he was Mr. Cool.

His sudden mood swings puzzled Kagome, who wasn't sure what to make of them. Perhaps she had to pick up her textbook on animal behaviouring again to see if she had forgotten a passage or two.

With the morning's events quickly forgotten, it took about half an hour for her to get him to dress, Inuyasha wrestling to put on the clothes and Kagome struggling to explain in ways for him to understand how to put on the various pieces of clothing. After they'd tried on each garment bought and deciphered which fit and which didn't in two separate piles on the couch, Kagome deemed her shopping trip a success.

In all honesty, the ordeal had played out much better than she had expected.

The professor had found him several pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of sweatpants, and shorts that fit him. She'd also bought an array of t-shirts, sweaters, and nicer looking tops such as polo shirts and button ups.

She learned the hard way that the white-haired man refused to wear shoes, battling her as she tried to slide on a pair of sneakers. After her scuffle with him, she finally got him to wear flip-flops. At least it was still better than nothing she decided.

That also meant that socks were a no-go, so she'd have to deal with messy footprints around the house when he refused to wipe his feet before entering.

The best purchase from the morning's shopping trip had been a red ball cap which hid his fluffy appendages. It would be her secret weapon to take him out in public.

Kagome straightened out the living room after their fashion parade, setting aside a bag of clothing she had to return since they didn't fit.

It was about time she made the two of them lunch, anyway.

* * *

Working on activities for her report was the next step in her experiment. The raven-haired woman had prepared flashcards with pictures of everyday objects. She'd use them to teach words to the new dog-eared student she'd taken under her wing.

She sat Inuyasha down on the living room carpet and sat across from him, folding her legs in a crisscross fashion. She'd found that her companion was much more relaxed and at ease sitting on the floor than on modern chairs. Kagome was certain that too much at once would confuse the poor man, so to enhance his learning, she'd enhance his comfort. As simple as that.

Plus, it's not like she didn't sit on the floor daily to work on her laptop at the coffee table.

The two were facing one another, Kagome, cards in hand, and Inuyasha, gazing at her intently. Why was he always so serious?

The professor pulled out a card which displayed a brightly coloured vehicle, "This is a car. Car."

She repeated the words a few times hoping he understood what she was doing. While she did so, a clipboard was cradled on top of her crossed legs with a pencil secured to its clip. Kagome also had a bowl filled with treats behind her to entice him to pay attention to their little game.

Inuyasha cocked his head sideways, ears tipped forward as if to show that he was paying attention. Eagerly waiting for her to speak, as if a child being read a bedtime story.

"Let's try another one," she declared as she placed the card face down in front of her.

The next one she pulled up showed a practical electronic item she used on a daily basis, "Computer. Computer."

This time Inuyasha seemed to grasp what was happening a bit more. He pointed towards her laptop that was still resting atop of the table a few feet beside him.

"Yes, that's fantastic, that's a computer" she emphasized again, her cheerfulness at his progress shone through her pleased tone.

At that, he flashed a toothy grin at her. A noise rumbled in his chest, almost like a kitten's purr.

"Kah-mpoo-tah," he emitted, the croakiness at the disuse in his throat very clear.

The professor praised him by handing him a pepperette piece she'd prepared earlier. She knew from her animal behavioural knowledge that a positive reinforcement always worked better than a negative one. One shouldn't yell at an animal since they wouldn't understand why they were being scolded. Yet, giving them a reward for doing something good right after doing so could get them to learn much quicker.

She was hoping she'd be able to induce a Pavlovian behavior out of him—he'd try to say the word, she'd praise him and he'd expect a reward. Lather, rinse, repeat.

She'd show those above her in her department she could accomplish amazing things herself. There was no way she'd let herself get fired over a mediocre thesis and all those budget cuts at the university. She'd get through this along with Inuyasha. They were in this together.

They repeated this exercise until dinner time. That night, Kagome prepared a dish of miso, white rice, and grilled fish. This time, she'd focus on etiquette. The white-haired man would have to learn to eat without stuffing his face immediately with the food presented in front of him.

It would be like pulling teeth, but she'd have to get started somewhere.

* * *

Kagome placed multiple dishes in front of Inuyasha. She handed him the chopsticks and as always; he grabbed a hold of them and set them down beside his meal as she figured he would. He didn't quite grasp the concept at all.

So, she handed him another pair. This left him with a perplexed expression painted across his face. What was she trying to do?

He put them down again.

She repeated the process over by handing him a third pair of utensils.

"Hey, you have to eat with those," she pointed expectantly at the pair of chopsticks Inuyasha held firmly in his hands this time.

His right ear twitched in annoyance. There were delectable smelling dishes right under his nose and Kagome was distracting him from eating them.

Enough dilly-dallying he decided, placing the third pair of chopsticks on the table once more and wrapping his fingers around the nearest dish, its aroma wafting directly under his nose.

Every time he'd go to grab the small plate with his clawed hand, her own would come and rest atop of it to prevent him from bringing it to his face and devouring it whole like he usually would.

If he _really _wanted to, he could force it out of her hands he told himself. Yank it from her and show her what he was capable of. No one should underestimate him just because he was a half-demon. No one.

A low growl reverberated through his chest as his ears flicked back and forth more frequently as she kept preventing him from eating.

Why was she stopping him, now of all times? She'd never done this, always allowing him to eat to his heart's content for some reason or another, unlike most humans who tried to chase him out with a broom.

He'd have to figure it out soon because his rumbling stomach wouldn't let him wait any longer and his patience was wearing thin. Very thin.

"Don't you growl at me, mister!", she chided, scolding him this time by placing her index on the tip of his nose and pushing back.

He tried to use more force on his hold of the plate this time, yanking it from her hands. This caught her off guard, leading her to stumble and fall on her side.

The sound of her slender frame hitting the hardwood floor in such a brusque manner sounded like a ton of bricks being dropped in a silent auditorium.

Inuyasha immediately regretted what he'd done. The man smelled the scent of fresh tears teasing at his nose the moment she had come back to her senses after her tumble.

He winced at his own actions. Stupid, he was so stupid. How could he have made her cry after everything she'd done for him?

Wait- no! He wasn't supposed to feel sorry for a filthy human. How many times had they made him cry when they turned his back on him when he was just a starving child?

There was no way he'd sympathize with her he decided. His heart had decided otherwise though, his ears drooping forward pointing towards his soft white mane. His facial features softened, eyes mimicking those of a begging puppy. He hadn't meant to hurt her with his superhuman strength.

He whined as he dropped the plate he had taken from her while descending from the chair. Inuyasha scooped her up as if she weighed nothing less than a feather.

"Sorry," he softly murmured, remembering hearing that sound being uttered from the people in the black rectangular machinery in a similar situation.

"S'okay, don't be," she mumbled back as she wiped her tears with her sleeve.

She took several seconds to process what had just happened. Had he just talked to her?

Kagome tried to calm herself from the excitement she felt to prevent an overreaction. Her aching side was still throbbing from the hard thrust given by the man who had gotten impatient with her.

She wanted to praise him for talking to her but didn't want to praise him for having lost his cool on her either. She was in quite the pickle.

Kagome, with the help of Inuyasha, slumped back down on her own chair to let her companion eat his own dinner without another fuss. The professor didn't want to repeat tonight's event as she'd already made her test subject go through enough for one night. Clearly, she'd pushed him a little too hard.

Not wanting to look at him in the eyes, she stared quietly at her own dinner, munching away without saying another word or demanding something else out of him.

She was lost in her own thoughts, replaying the night's events like a movie reel.

Inuyasha didn't want to disappoint her again. Not only had he hurt her, but now, the foolish human didn't even look at him anymore. He wouldn't stand for that! He wanted her to look at him with those chocolate brown orbs of hers. He didn't know what had gotten into him; he wanted to know what she wanted from him!

What in the world was going on with him? Why was his heart beating so fast? The constant pounding of the organ resonated in his animalistic ears, blood rushing to every part of his body, confusing him even more.

He sat there, not touching his dinner for a few minutes as he racked his brain for a solution—and it wasn't in his nature at all to stop himself from eating when he was starving.

Was it something to do with those stupid wooden sticks she had given him before his food? What did she want him to do with those?

Then it hit him as hard as a slap in the face.

He remembered seeing her eat with them in an odd fashion over the course of the previous few days. He was sure he had vivid memories of his human mother using them too when he was an infant, but he wasn't certain about that part.

Maybe that would get her to look back up at him?

He grabbed the pair with difficulty because of his long razor sharp nails but tried his best to steady them despite this. Inuyasha observed the manner in which his female friend had them placed between her dainty fingers and tried his best to replicate her hold on them.

Inuyasha clumsily attempted to snatch a piece of grilled fish with the sticks. It kept slipping between the pieces of wood as he tried over and over to clutch it between the eating utensils. No matter how much force he applied, the fish slipped out, as if they had been lathered up in oil.

His golden eyes surveyed the hunched figure sat in front of him as he tried his best effort to bring the food to his mouth.

That's when his white fluffy ears caught the soft feminine giggles emitted from across the table. The sound was so faint he doubted whether he'd heard it in the first place.

Kagome's eyes slowly met his as a tiny smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She got up from her seated position and made a few strides towards him.

"Here," she mumbled as she bent over to correct his chopstick holding posture.

Inuyasha felt the hairs at the nape of his neck rise and the heat flush his face once more as he felt her hand brush up against his. Why was this human getting him to feel so flustered?

The great Inuyasha, feeling something for someone, let alone a human? Keh!

He could finally grab the pieces of food with the help of the strange position his hands were placed in. His grasp was shaky at first, but he was slowly and surely getting the food to its intended location—his mouth.

Plus, it got her attention.

The rest of the dinner went by uneventfully, much to Kagome's glee. The same could be said about the remainder of their evening as the two of them began the nightly routine she had established.

Inuyasha had managed to bathe himself—somewhat. Despite there being water in every nook and cranny of the entire bathroom again, he was clean and dry by the time the professor had to show him how to wear his pajamas.

She tucked him into bed, read him a bedtime story hoping he'd catch a few new words and called it a night.

What Kagome had a hard time understanding was why she had started to see her student as a _man_. Someone she could develop feelings for. In all honesty, she found him rather attractive, perhaps even someone of her type.

Wait- what in the world was she thinking? There was no way in hell that someone who'd been kept away from the population from so long could ever develop feelings for a person, let alone fall in love! There was no way that Inuyasha would ever fall for her, would he?

She forgot the thought as quickly as it had planted itself in her brain. She was being foolish, and she knew it.

* * *

Loud buzzing resonated in her head as she started to come to her senses. As she glanced over at the bright red digits showing 6:00, she groaned and swung her feet out of bed.

It was Monday morning and time to get ready for work.

The alarm had panicked the half-demon, which had jumped up from his resting position on his futon. He only had to make two strides until he found himself between the digital clock and his protégé's body.

Claws extended towards the plastic emitting the constant ringing, he'd show that stupid loud monster not to mess with him. Kagome quickly shot up beside him and held his arm before he could do any more damage to her household. She subdued his growls with a few gentle words and pressed the OFF button written in bold across the top of the contraption.

It was when he looked back at her, surveying her facial expression and the rest of her body that Kagome started to suspect something.

Had he been trying to protect her from what he thought was danger? That was odd behaviour for someone who hadn't interacted at all with humans before and should want nothing to do with them.

That was something she could worry about later because she had to hurry and get ready. Being late on a Monday morning for work was out of the question according to her personal principles. Not only did she have to go through her own routine, but she'd have to set Inuyasha up for the day as well considering she wouldn't be home until at least dinner time. She prayed that she didn't get held up at the office tonight because leaving her housemate alone longer than necessary could definitely mean bad news.

Since she had to teach an introduction to psychology class today, Kagome had to dress slightly more professionally than her usual attire. Mondays were always the worse day of the week.

Preparing both of their breakfasts and packing both Inuyasha and herself a lunch, she readied herself for the walk to work. After showing her companion where his food was located in the refrigerator, she grabbed her to-go coffee mug and made her way towards the entrance.

This foggy morning was more chilly than usual, so she slipped on her light purple windbreaker. Biding Inuyasha a good day, she ambled to work feeling the refreshing wind leave soft caresses on her face.

She took about 20 minutes to trek her way across campus to the psychology building where she arrived at her desk and booted up her computer. The bustle and noise of the office became clear in the upcoming minutes as more and more members of the department started to file in, arriving at work for another day's worth of business.

It wasn't long until she heard the distinct footsteps of her eager male friend stop in front of her desk. She swore that if he had a tail and ears like a dog, she'd hear it rhythmically hit the wooden side of her desk as it wagged back and forth whenever he was in her presence.

After the weekend's events of meeting Inuyasha, she figured that anything could be possible, and even that mental reverie of him could reveal itself to become true.

"Hey Kagome, how was your evening yesterday?" the male voice inquired as he rested both of his palms flat on some piles of paperwork scattered across her bureau.

"It was good Kouga, how about yours?" she asked uninterestingly as she tried to accomplish her morning's tasks before heading to her lecture.

"It was boooring! Ginta, Hakkaku and I watched the game last night and our team lost! It would have been so much better if you would have joined us, y' know?"

"I'm sure it would have been," she replied, trying to tone down her sarcasm as much as she possibly could.

That's when she realized her mistake.

"Wait, you'd want to come over at my place Kagome?"

That guy could never take a hint. He took everything she said literally, not understanding when she made it obvious to anyone else but him she wasn't interested in his advances. He was so dense sometimes.

She'd have to find a way to deflect what she'd said, and _fast_ before the situation spiraled out of control.

"Well—you know how I am, always busy working on my projects," she chuckled nervously, not wanting to meet his gaze, afraid it would make it too obvious she was sassing him.

It wasn't exactly a _lie_ either.

"Yeah, I totally get it. Don't worry about it, baby."

The rest of the department trailed in, including Naraku, Bankotsu and a few more members who worked in the psychology field.

Elated that most of his coworkers had arrived, Kouga turned around to face them, "Guess what kind of mutt Kagome's gotten over the weekend guys!"

That little shit- how'd he even find out? Was this his way to get back at her?


	4. Chapter 4

How had he even found out about her secret? There was something immensely fishy about this whole situation and Kagome decided she'd get to the bottom of it.

She had told no one, hadn't slipped up once. Hadn't posted about it on social media either, not that she had a very large presence, to begin with. Could he be stalking her? He hadn't given her that impression, but you never knew in this day and age.

Psychoanalysis might help her determine what Kouga was trying to accomplish by putting her on the spot like that, but it's not something she could just do on the fly. Freud's theory would be a problem she'd have to deal with tonight at this rate.

"Kouga, I'm not sure what you mean. Is it–"

"She got herself a pet dog, can you believe it?" he cut her off, not paying her the slightest grain of attention.

He ignored her completely as if she'd said nothing, that mother fucking jerk. She'd show him a thing or two. She wasn't just a hunk of meat he could ignore whenever he wanted to and get her to give him attention whenever he desired it.

'Did he have issues with his motherly figure when he was a child?' she wondered, incapable of stopping herself from resorting to using psychology.

Boisterous cackle thundered from the back of the office where Mukotsu's desk was located, "Wait, you mean _the _Kagome Higurashi got a _dog_? You're talking about the one who continuously claims to be a cat person because dogs are filthy?"

_Oh_. That's why they reacted.

But seriously, how did he figure out she'd come in contact with a 'dog'. This story didn't add up. Could Kouga know more than he was letting on?

Kagome didn't have the slightest idea how he'd found out. Inuyasha hadn't even left her house to her knowledge, although she couldn't confirm that claim for certain.

Plus now, this meant she would get teased at work until someone else did something stupid to switch their attention off of her. And in this boring place, that would probably take _years_ to happen.

"Yeah, I guess I got one after all," Kagome responded, nervously eyeing the tiles on the floor.

She wanted to dig herself a grave, climb in it and never have to face anyone in her department ever again.

What had she expected in the first place? It was a Monday.

* * *

The air was still while the furniture, piles of paperwork, and various knick-knacks covering every inch of the room were collecting more dust by the second. Three consecutive knocks had made themselves heard throughout this science professor's office. Her office hours didn't start until the evening that day, so she didn't expect any of her students requesting her help at that given time.

It was unusual for her to have any visitors at all though, as she prided herself on being an available teacher after class. She knew how nerve-wracking it could be to go to your professor's office alone.

Plus, the athletic long-haired beauty didn't make her classes particularly challenging either, since she wanted the focus of her students to be on learning, not just getting them to memorize the content of her lectures, only to forget it the day after the exam.

"Yes?", was all she shouted while standing at the opposite end of the room from the door.

Sango was busily feeding her lab mice while studying their behavioral patterns and this unexpected visitor had picked a bad time to come hinder her work.

"Sango? Can I come in? I need your advice on something," a feminine voice answered, heavily muffled because she stood on the opposite side of the office door.

"Oh my goodness, yes, Kagome come on in. I'm just in the back working, I'll be with you in just a bit."

The soft click of the door and a few footsteps was all she heard from where she was working in the stuffy room. It was unusual for her friend to come to visit her on such short notice; the girls being very methodical and organized on their meetings.

The animal biologist finished jotting down a few more things on her clipboard and made her way towards the psychologist. She peeled off her blue latex gloves, crumpled the pair and tossed them into the trash bin tucked under her mahogany desk.

"And with what do I owe this surprise visit?" Sango asked, a devilish smile tugging at her lips, "Is it boy problems again?"

Kagome laughed, "Well, _sorta_, but not quite for the same reasons this time. Actually, it's more of a _dog_ problem I'd say."

Sango cocked her eyebrow, "And what do you mean by that?"

The biologist was her only friend at the university. Kagome's extroverted personality clashed with that of many professors, they themselves being introverted or self-absorbed. Yet, the two women had been drawn to one another the day they'd met, both having a drink at the school bar. It wasn't uncommon for the university's professors in various departments to hang out together after work hours, but neither of them had really liked the cliquy feel that these groups would attract.

Sango was a young athletic and heavily muscled woman from her many sporting activities. While not a leader of any varsity or intramural teams, she spent most of her free time working out at the gym and hosting several martial arts classes over the weekends. She dedicated the rest of her time to her very affectionate tabby cat named Kirara, which Kagome had met a handful of times.

Plus lately, her friend had started seeing someone who was also part of the science department, so she had quite a full plate to deal with.

"Well, let me just put it this way. Something happened over the weekend and I made a discovery," Kagome paused, avoiding her best friend's gaze.

That was all it took to have Sango's undivided attention. The woman had propped herself on the desk as she realised that Kagome wasn't playing around. The biologist hummed in response, encouraging her eagerly to continue to spill her beans.

Kagome leaned in towards her friend and whispered, "You can't tell anyone, but I found a feral child. He's an adult, but he's like—not fully human. Not like that's possible or anything, but I swear there's something different about him. You won't believe me, but he's part dog or part animal of some kind."

Sango took a few seconds to digest the information her friend had thrown her way, holding a stern expression.

How dumb had Kagome sounded? Her best friend was a scientist, and she'd just told her she'd discovered something that _couldn't physically exist_. Sango would certainly judge her now. There had to be some explanation for all this chaos. Some reason why this man had triangular appendages twitching on top of his head.

It had to be simple, right?

Sango didn't react entirely how the psychologist had envisioned she would. Instead of mocking her straight away, she asked a series of questions.

"Does he have superhuman strength?"

"What makes you think he's part dog precisely?"

"Does his presence make you feel uneasy?"

Kagome complied and responded to each one, wondering what her friend was going on about. There had to be a reason the biologist was so curious about what she's said. The woman was a genius, never ceasing to amaze Kagome, always writing amazing dissertations, being the guest speaker at conferences, co-writing papers with other world-renown scientists.

If there was anyone that could solve her mystery with the dog-man, it would be her.

"Here's the crazy part Kagome. And I don't think you will believe me either, but I think your dog-man may be a demon."

A demon? Now she was certain she was dreaming.

There was no way in hell that her friend suggested that there were supernatural beings that roamed this Earth. She was a lady of reason, calculations, and proof. She was a scientist for Christ's sake!

She must have hit her head over the weekend and have imagined everything that had unfolded over the course of those two days. That must be it. That would explain everything from the beginning to the end.

She didn't want to believe that she was _actually_ having this conversation with her best friend. That much was painted across her face.

"It seems like I have my share of explaining to do. And you too Kagome, you'll have to explain more than that," Sango continued, noticing how her friend's expression had transformed into one of disbelief, "Let me come over and I can assess the situation at your place for myself."

Kagome, unsure how her new housemate would react to having a visitor was hesitant.

"If you insist, but you really have to keep quiet about this."

"Deal."

* * *

To Kagome's surprise, her companion clad in a red hoodie and a pair or loose baggie jeans was patiently awaiting her return by the front door. He sat in a strange position, knees placed like arrows pointed towards the ceiling. A puppy awaiting its master to come home.

Sango waltzed into the entrance, took a glance at the man and made her way to the living room, choosing not to stare at Kagome's strange companion straight into the eyes.

You never knew how demons would react to strangers, let alone a human of her status.

To her surprise though, Inuyasha seemed to pay her no attention. He appeared relaxed in her presence, not even disturbed that she was intruding on a dog demon's territory.

When the two women sat on Kagome's leather couch, a cup of peppermint tea in hand, Sango turned to face her friend.

"I'll go first because I'm uncertain how you'll respond to all of this," the biologist admitted, absent-mindedly rubbing her index finger around the rim of the mug. Its piping hot liquid inside burned the tip of her finger, but she was too distracted to even notice this.

"After what I've seen over the course of this weekend, I'm sure nothing will faze me just about now."

The athletic woman took a deep breath before starting her confession, "Kagome, I know this will seem unlikely, but I'm actually from a family of demon slayers. Demons are a thing, although the government wants us to keep quiet about them. They exist. Scientists around the world are studying them, but we're under an oath to keep them a secret. We're still learning about them. Honestly, they're still very much a mystery, which is why we're spending so much energy and funding studying them."

The psychologist couldn't believe what she was hearing. Demons? And what would her best friend reveal next? That angels and ghosts also existed?

"I only hunt demons that are a hindrance to the society though, since a lot of them are peaceful and can lead normal lives, just like us. They blend in, contribute to society, and live what even you would consider a 'normal' life. The thing is, they can merge in very well with humans and you just don't know who might be one.

This was a lot for her to take in all at once. All she could muster in response was a barely audible, "Oh."

"It seems like your newfound friend is definitely part demon. I haven't seen many cases like his, but he's most likely half-demon to boot. It's like you said though—he's not socialized at all. It seems like neither the human side nor the demon one has taught him their ways since his actions seem very rudimentary and animalistic. It's quite the project you've gotten yourself involved with!"

This was a lot of information that Sango had her process all at once. What in the world was a sane person supposed to answer to being confessed all of this?

"Does that mean he's a peaceful demon? He's never tried to hurt me or anything like that, he's been _kind _to me," Kagome questioned, glancing over at Inuyasha who was sitting on the carpet of the living room, listening in on their conversation.

"You would know whether he was peaceful. The fact that he hasn't devoured you whole means that either he's on the good side, or he's planning a very crafty operation to have you as a snack for later," Sango added that last part, mostly just to toy with her friend and attempting to lighten the conversation up a tad.

"Do you think I should give up my research project then? I can't exactly publish this paper if he's a demon, considering how the world's not supposed to know about these guys."

"You can definitely write that paper. There's a market for these kinds of studies, and you can exclude his physical features from your study, y'know. The world doesn't need to know that he's part demon."

"I guess you're right."

"Listen, Kagome. I can ask Miroku to do more digging if you want me to. I'm not an expert at identifying demon, just slaying them. He's a geneticist I work with, but he's also from a Buddhist family that stems from an ancient line of monks. The man works with my family, and he can probably teach you a thing or two on how to handle your demon in case he gets out of hands. I know you want to keep this project on the down-low, but I think including him wouldn't be such a bad idea."

The psychologist smirked at what Sango had suggested. That sly girl, thinking she wouldn't find out.

Her friend could be read as easily as a book. Miroku had to be the guy she'd been seeing lately. Kagome had heard his name quite a few times before by various people, especially from Sango. He had the reputation of hitting on a sizeable chunk of the girl population at the university, whether they were his students or coworkers.

But, Kagome wasn't about to let her friend down after she'd confided so much to her. If she thought he was a trustworthy guy, the psychologist decided that she would have to think so too. Sango had always had a good judge of character and a good head on her shoulders. Plus, that's just the friendship the two of them shared.

"Fine," Kagome replied, rolling her eyes dramatically to put on a show as if her friend had asked her for the moon, "as long as he doesn't go blabbering on about it to everyone. I want to keep Inuyasha's discovery a secret for now if you don't mind."

If someone got wind of her discovery, Kagome was certain it would spiral out of control with her coworkers, who'd try to steal her fame. She couldn't lose her new thesis project. She couldn't afford to be fired over budget cuts. She couldn't afford to pay her house bills without this job.

Not that she wanted to admit it either, but she didn't want to risk losing her newfound friendship with a certain dog-boy either.

He was a friend, right? Did he think of her as one?

Did _he_ consider her a friend? _Could_ he even consider her a friend?

Did demons even express feelings?

A thousand thoughts muddled her brain all at once. As if a water barrage had let go, the water flooding all the areas surrounding its path.

Kagome tried her best to give Inuyasha the benefit of the doubt that he understood a lot more than he let on. So many times, he had surprised her with how thoughtful and sensitive he could be about her moods. Sometimes more than others, but considering that he was feral, he'd been more receptive to her feelings than most guys she'd even dared to date.

What she couldn't wrap her head around though, was that he was part-demon. Sango had explained to her he had stronger physical abilities than a mortal human, potentially even supernatural capabilities. Aspects of him that would seem magical. Unreal.

Coming from a priestess background herself, Kagome had some knowledge on matters supernatural thanks to her religious and superstitious grandfather, but she never imagined believing what he was saying. He would always tell her insane stories that he claimed had been 'passed on through generations' of their family. The psychologist just figured her senile old grandpa had lived one too many years, his age starting to show when she had come of age herself.

While she was trying to process everything explained to her, the half-demon could sense her unease. Golden orbs met chocolate ones as he had turned around at the sound of her heartbeat rising.

Inuyasha was mentally kicking himself for not understanding all the gibberish Kagome had been trying to teach him yet while talking to the stranger in their living room. His stupid human half made learning painstakingly slow compared to his demon half, the latter which could have mastered this dumb human language of hers that she was trying to teach him at a much faster rate.

Had the strange woman said something to threaten her? She _had_ an aura around her that warned his demonic senses to back away, that she could definitely do him some damage if he wasn't careful around her. The black-haired woman whose ponytail swayed rhythmically from side to side, hugging her back as she spoke still had a very soothing, non-threatening voice. And if living with Kagome had taught him anything so far, it was that humans were very puzzling creatures that often gave mixed signals.

He'd let the slayer woman come into Kagome's territory, sensing that if she was comfortable with the newcomer there, then so be it. It was her home, so she could technically do as she pleased, but if he felt that she was in any danger, he wouldn't think twice to swoop in and pull her out of her pinch.

Inuyasha didn't worry about the fact that she might wound him though. There was simply no way that the slayer could match his speed, he had concluded to himself while glancing at his razor-sharp claws and sensed the muscles in his toned legs tighten. That wasn't _at all _why he was keeping a keen eye on each of her movements though.

No one had ever defeated him so far, he thought, huffing while swinging his head towards his shoulder in cockiness.

The woman Kagome kept referring to as 'Sango' pulled out one of those strange boxes that Kagome always used, talking to it and tapping on it frequently during the day. Inuyasha rested his head on his knuckle, showing that he didn't care about the two women in the living room at all. His ears, however, rotated toward their voices in hopes to catch some of the few words he understood by listening in on their conversation.

Humans talked so fast in that strange language of theirs though. Mimicking their sounds was so foreign to him, only ever having had to rely on a few grunts and growls to get by all his life so far. Kagome was the only one who would take the time to communicate with him beyond that though, so that was the only reason he stayed with her and tried to learn her dumb language though, he reasoned with himself. The _only _reason. _Keh_

The great Inuyasha, bowing down to a human's selfish needs? Never.

Plus, what could Kagome ever gain by spending time with _him_? A girl like her, as beautiful and kind-hearted as her, could easily settle down with another person from her species and truly find what it means to be happy. Why she would ever want to let him stay with her was beyond him—but he wasn't about to kick himself out while he tried to find a way back home.

If Inuyasha had something to gain from his encounter with humans, unlike Kagome, he'd use it to his advantage. He'd never be caught dead slaving for those human scum again.

* * *

Sango and Kagome had lunch together and chatted about various things happening in their lives. They hadn't caught up with one another with what seemed like ages. What else could you expect from two very busy professors? If they didn't even have time for self-care, how could they have time to see each other?

The TV was off for once, the two women listening to various playlists of music they'd created over the past little while, sharing their favourite songs, just like they'd done in old times.

Everything had felt relaxing, until around 2:00 pm, where something in the air shifted. A crackling thunder strike, throbbing, and ringing in the heads of the inhabitants casually seated around the living room table. It wasn't an actual sound, but more of an excruciating headache that had simultaneously hit everyone in the room at once.

Swallowing had suddenly become difficult, the air as thick as molasses. Seconds ticked by at a snail's pace. Kagome's eyes darted towards the now empty spot on the couch where the half-demon had been lazily draped across a few seconds earlier.

A blur of white and red flew across her field of vision, dashing through the room towards the windowsill.

Kagome had heard nothing like it before. Her new feral companion had his dog ears pinned backward in sign of hostility while releasing a soft guttural rumble, gradually increasing in pitch. Lips were curled backward, displaying a set of pearly sharp canines while his mouth was producing an excess of saliva. His amber eyes had a reddish hue to them, glowing unnaturally in the glass's reflection.

His back was arched, his muscles twitching sporadically as the growls raked his body.

Nothing was on the other side of the window.

Sango had maneuvered her way towards the window, a strange weapon in hand, brandishing it in Inuyasha's direction. The woman had the tip of the peculiar-looking blade she had produced from inside her shirt pointed directly at the half-demon's face.

What in the world was happening?

Why did her head still feel like it was about to slice itself in half?

Without even thinking twice about her actions, Kagome stepped in front of Inuyasha, blocking him from her friend's attack. She didn't even know what had possessed her to act so swiftly either. Sango had promised to protect her, yet, here she was, defending someone that looked like he had contracted the rabies virus.

Whilst the two friends were facing one another, the white-haired man had made his own protective stance, claws drew and on display towards the thin glass that separated the outside from Kagome.

"Kagome! Get out of the way, that demon can skewer you in the blink of an eye!" the slayer said, keeping her eyes pinned to the man adorned with the triangular animalistic appendages, "He's not sane, I take back what I said about him earlier."

"I'm sorry Sango, I'm really not sure what came over me. It's just that—he's never acted this way before. Something's not right. I don't know what that was just now, but there's no way Inuyasha caused it! I have to believe that he wasn't the one. I'm a strong believer in what Bandura has taught us; that one imitates what they're taught to do, and I've been very gentle with him. He's also done the same to me so far."

Too busy bickering, the two friends didn't realise that the air was getting easier and easier to breathe in, the ominous aura that had been hanging around slowly dissipated.

Inuyasha had not let his guard down though. Although his snarls had diminished considerably, his canid eyes were still tracking every twitch outside.

There was no way in hell that the dog-demon would let that thing get anywhere close to Kagome. Not after what they'd made him go through.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for the two professors to apologize to one another after the ordeal. Both had acted in ways they had thought would be the best course of action. Sango, having much more experience than Kagome with demons was right about wanting to protect her, Kagome acknowledging her act as one of good intentions. Thankfully, no one had been hurt, which was what truly mattered.

Yet, the women were considerably on edge after the afternoon's events when came the time for Miroku's turn to knock at the door.

The consecutive raps were enough to get them to jump a few centimeters up from their seats when they filled the quiet home. This had also alarmed Inuyasha, who already had overprotectiveness issues, to begin with. His entire body had become rigid, ears pointed towards the door, like an English Pointer, attention drawn on its prey.

Kagome had noticed her companion's irritable temper when the second male had swung the door open and waltzed in the demon's clear line of sight. Inuyasha's muscles had tensed, a solid frown forming itself on his forehead.

"Good evening Mr. Miroku," Kagome welcomed as cheerfully as possible as the taller man appeared within her doorway.

He was wearing a purple cardigan over a tight-fitting black t-shirt, and a pair of loose-fitting cargo pants. The man's hair was tied up in a ratty and low-hanging ponytail, not something that Kagome found stylish. Not that she'd ever say that to his face, or her friend's, considering how the two had been an item. That much was obvious when Sango's eyes light up after Miroku joined them.

Not to mention that telling her best friend her thoughts on him would be rude on her part.

"Miss Kagome, how good it is to finally get to know you! Sango has told me countless good things about you," the geneticist exclaimed, briskly moving to grab hold of her hand to shake it.

This friendly greeting had allowed the male professor to get closer to the psychologist. He leaned in _very_ close to her face, almost as if to drop a quick peck on the cheeks. Having her attention distracted on trying to avoid his advances, Miroku's free hand snaked and ventured to stroke her behind.

Kagome's reaction was instantaneous, her canine companion's just as quickly. She released a sharp squeal, her own lithe hand coming up towards the man to strike him across the face in retaliation for his inappropriateness.

Sensing the woman's distress, the half-demon had risen from his seated position, taking a few inhumane leaps towards the pair, and shoved the other male away. He then stood defensively between Miroku and Kagome, the demonic aura flaring in the room was enough to make any human's skin crawl and the hairs at the nape of their neck stand erect.

Kagome shivered at the spike in demonic energy, glancing at the white-haired man that stood in front of her. It wasn't anything to the level at what she had felt it rise to previously, infinitesimal in comparison

In the meantime, Sango had left a quick, closed-fisted smack on her boyfriend's crown, the thudding noise resonating in the living room where they all stood.

"It seems we have a very good guard dog in the works here," the newcomer groused as he rubbed the sore spot the biologist had left on his head. That would certainly bruise and swell up over the course of the night.

Yet, Sango realised that never once did the demon companion growl or show any other signs of aggression towards the second male presence in the room as he had previously done towards the window. Was it really him that had caused such a panic in her best friend's home earlier? It seemed very unlikely now.

* * *

The half-demon did not understand what had gotten over him. His limbs followed his instincts when he felt his friend's unease. Friend. Keh.

It's not like he cared about what happened to her or anything.

He'd have to keep a close eye on the lecher from now on to keep him from trying anything funny again. He'd cut his hands off if he thought he'd need too, that stupid monk. That'd teach him a thing or two about messing with him.

But, Miroku didn't turn out to be a bad guy in Kagome's books after getting to know him. He was perverted and a lady's man, she deduced, but not a _bad _guy per se. He was a renown geneticist that had discovered lots in the scientific community and allowed leaps to be made in the demon discovery department. And he'd apparently taken his womanizing down a notch since he started dating Sango. She had a hard time believing that part though.

It was nearly dinnertime and Kagome called to order a few pizzas. It hadn't taken long for them to arrive, the aroma of greasy cheese bread filling everyone's nostrils and leaving empty tummies rumbling. The group of four set up the boxes and plates in the living room, everyone grabbing themselves a few slices before settling down.

As Kagome went to sit down on her couch by the coffee table with her two pepperoni and cheese slices, her personal guard dog sat directly beside her, acting as a flesh barrier between himself and the geneticist.

She instantly looked down towards her plate, refusing to make eye contact with the white-haired man who was brushing up against her side, feeling the fabric of the hoodie and sweat-pants rub against her. Her heart was racing and she had felt the blush creep up from her toes to her face.

He wasn't pushing her away. He had _chosen_ to sit next to her.

He wasn't writhing away from her touch. What'd gotten into him?

But—why in the world did she feel so comfortable when a stranger was so close to her? She found her heart fluttering and skipping a beat whenever he did anything that was remotely _human_. The worse part of it all was that his actions hadn't intended to be attractive, it was just him mindlessly being himself. And she found that at night, she couldn't shake off the image of him clad in nothing but his towel, bent over her, whispering in her ear, his sharp canines brushing against her sensitive skin.

She had to snap out of it! The half-demon was her test subject, not a teenage crush.

Trying to push those kinds of thoughts out of her brain before her body could react anymore and her companion could notice the change in her behaviour, Kagome decided it was probably best to get the elephant in the room settled.

Inuyasha was part dog, so the professor was uncertain about how much the creature side of him could smell and hear about her. He'd surprised her many times in the past few days with both his human actions, but also his demon ones. Inuyasha had known when she had been cooking breakfast even before he came downstairs the moment she had peeled the package of breakfast sausages open.

Pretending to not pay her any attention after plopping down beside her, the half-demon focused on the cheesy food Kagome had offered him for dinner. He'd had nothing so tasty in his life before and nearly inhaled his entire portion all at once.

He was certain it would enrage the woman with him if he devoured all the strange food she had placed on the table in front of him all by himself. But he had to get a second plate of it, maybe even thirds.

So, he did his best to make large puppy eyes in her direction. That had worked previously with her before, so he'd figured that maybe it would again. But, the girl wasn't even looking in his direction, her attention having drawn itself to the damn lecher sitting across from them.

"Miroku, I hear that you come from a family of Buddhist monks?" the psychology professor questioned, in hopes to quell her racing heart and distract herself from her earlier train of thoughts.

"Why yes, I am. I've heard from my lovely Sango that you have a potential demon problem needing dealing with?" he replied, his gaze reaching that of the white-haired man sitting beside Kagome across the room.

"Yeah, sorta. Inuyasha here," she gestured to the figure that was stuffing his face with pizza, barely taking the time to chew the food entering his gluttonous mouth, "is a feral demon. Half-demon perhaps? I'm not too certain on that part and Sango wanted to confirm with you instead of just making assumptions."

The scientist with the rat tail tittered, "He's part-demon for certain. If I were to guess, I'd say that he's part human, part dog demon. But, I wouldn't be 100% certain without doing a whole, or at the very least, partial genome sequencing. I don't think it'd be essential to do so though since it won't really give you much more information on your friend here. Half-demons don't behave like their full demon counterparts. They're rare, as a matter-of-fact."

The psychology professor was noting things down in a little notebook balanced along with her plate of pizza on her lap, nodding occasionally, showing the man that she was paying attention to what he was telling her.

"Look, Miss Kagome, if you want my honest opinion, your demon friend here is pretty tame so far. You shouldn't have to worry too much about it, his demonic aura isn't visceral or killer by any means, and he's done nothing that's made me suspect he'd lash out so far. Just as you've probably been explained, not all demons are out for lunch. Many of them co-exist with humans with no issues. This seems to be the case for Inuyasha here."

This declaration had the woman turn to the man sitting at her side, taking in his every movement. The man was sitting lazily by her side, his attention turned to the window on her left. He seemed to watch the birds fly about and entranced by the soft swaying of the plants and grass of her front garden.

Kagome exhaled a breath she hadn't noticed she'd held in. Had she been worried that Miroku would tell her she'd been crazy to let him follow her home in the first place and kick her newly found dog-demon out?

Well it _was_ senseless on her part to let a complete stranger move in with her in the first place.

"So, he won't go out of control?" Sango asked Miroku, as if to suppress her suspicions of Inuyasha's earlier episode.

"Well- we won't know for sure. To be honest Kagome, there haven't been many instances of half-demons recorded at all in the demonic world. So there has been little research done on their behavioral or genetic aspect. However, we've discovered that the stronger the demonic parent, the harder it is for the half-child to control their non-human half.

"Sometimes they lose control and go, to put it plainly, on a killing spree. In all the cases so far though, that's because the half-demon was under a large amount of stress and had overall minimal stability in their lives. That's why Sango's so concerned here. Full demons don't have this problem, being able to control all of that demonic aura that they produce by having the biological gear needed to do so. So I brought you this," he clarified while shifting his weight, turning over to reach the bag that he had brought with him.

From it, he produced a beaded necklace. He handed it to the psychology professor and instructed her on how to use it, "The person who puts it on the demon will be able to control the spell. Choose the spell-word wisely, because there's no going back."

Kagome hesitated. Putting a collar on the man who now shared her home seemed _wrong_. He wasn't a pet, so dressing him with an accessory that was generally used for one felt out of place. Especially because of his canine origins.

How would Inuyasha even react? She didn't want to undo all the trust and communication that she'd work so hard to build with him. Plus, she'd even started trusting the guy. He never lashed out at her, and he always seemed to be _defending_ her from what he perceived as threats. Or maybe that was just her imagination.

"Thank you very much Miroku," she acknowledged," but I think I'll wait to use this until I see fit."

"As you wish-" the monk responded, getting brusquely cut off.

"Can more food have?"

All heads turned towards the source of the sound. Kagome's mouth formed an o-shape, and both visitors gaped at hearing the half-demon speak for the first time.

It took a few seconds before Kagome processed what had just unfolded in front of her.

"Yes. Go get more if you want Inuyasha. I think we're done eating, so take as much as you like."

The woman was uncertain how much of that the red-clad man had understood, but she was extremely pleased on his progress. Her feral test subject had _asked_ for more food instead of just taking whatever he wanted. And that deserved a big reward.

And Inuyasha certainly didn't have to get told twice that he could get himself a. second plate. He nearly bounced up from his seat, taking a few steps before looking back at her, giving her a strange facial expression that half-looked like a crooked grin.

"Thank you," he said, elated.


	5. Chapter 5

Surprise, it's finally here, 18000 years later, since I take forever to write anything, apparently. And I have the immune system of a pea and get sick around 13 times a year, and with that I'm not even exaggerating.

Things have been hectic (for the good, but mostly for the bad) in my life lately, so I sincerely apologize for the major delay in publishing this chapter. It's a big year since I'm starting my application to vet school, on top of classes and caring for a very needy kitten. I've also gotten sick over the past 3 days so I apologize for that as well. I've taken every cold medication under the sun, and even that didn't help me this time.

I apologize for any typos and mistakes, I'm heavily under the influence of several kinds of cold medication.

* * *

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Inuyasha's progress in both his speech and his overall social skills advanced smoothly. Ahead of schedule actually. This elated Kagome for the sake of both her subject and her project. This meant that all the effort and faith she put into it would finally be able to pay off in the end.

When she turned over to check the time on her bedside clock, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and the crinkling of her duvet cover alerted her room companion that she'd awakened.

The clock read 5:00 AM.

Today was the big day.

It was the big day where Inuyasha could come to school with her. She had to teach a single lecture on Wednesdays, so it was the perfect opportunity to test how well he'd do in a semi-public environment where he couldn't rely on her. She'd be present, yes, but he had to rely on himself to fit in with the rest. And since this was a first-year class, and it was so large, people wouldn't notice the extra presence in the room.

They'd gone out together in public countless times, but he'd always trail behind her, just like a lost duckling following its mother. Kagome wanted him to learn to fend off for himself little by little, so this opportunity would be a great time to test him.

She wouldn't let the white-haired half-demon be like little Albert; becoming an adult without being desensitized to something they feared. Except in Inuyasha's case, it was the humans themselves he was wary of, not snow colored rabbits.

"n-'Gome, is it time to get up yet?" the raspy male voice echoed in the silent bedroom for the exception of the humming of the celling fan.

The soft snores of his only human companion answered his question as she'd fallen back asleep within mere seconds of being awake.

Sheesh, Kagome really had to learn to be more wary of her surroundings. Inuyasha was certain that one day, her ease to fall asleep would be her downfall. That girl could sleep anywhere and it didn't take long for her to snooze off either!

He could sleep in for another hour he guessed from the lack of light that usually filtered through the blinds by the time they had to wake up. Not that he'd be able to get much more though, with the speed at which his heart was pounding through his chest.

Never in a million years would he admit that he was _nervous_ for such a mundane thing such as going to school though. If humans could go through the routine of waking up every weekday to go to work or school, so could he.

How in the world had he let Kagome pep talk him into this in the first place?

He'd never admit he'd developed a soft spot for the petite professor either though. Nothing angered him more than when she'd come home with the stench of that mangy wolf professor who worked with her. Or when she talked about all those amazing projects she worked on with other people in her department. Why couldn't they do these fun things together, huh? Was he such a drag that they didn't get to spend some _'quality time'_ together, like she liked to call it? At least by going to school with her, he could monitor that stupid canine demon and make sure he kept his filthy claws off of her.

Plus whatever other loser that tried to make her day hell. Kagome was so trusting that it worried him to no ends.

He stretched out his limbs to shake off his grogginess and to start his new morning routine. After a few more minutes of stretching, the muscular man got up, folded up his futon in the room's corner and exited the room as quietly as possible, making sure not to slam the door on his way out.

The soft padding of clawed feet on barren floor rang through the empty halls.

Inuyasha strolled towards the kitchen, turned on the switch of the kettle to prepare himself and Kagome a cup of tea. The woman was really not a morning person, so he figured he could help her out a bit, especially with what she'd been doing for him. He swears, she had to have the patience of a saint. Especially since she had to work with a wolf demon every day.

Plus, she fed him delicious food every day, and honestly, that was more than anyone had ever done for him. Of course he did his share by helping her prepare it, but Inuyasha still remembered his days before his new cozy life where he'd have to scavenge and hunt for food, never certain on when the next time he could eat would be.

Yet, Kagome fed him, housed him, and spent most of her time with him. What was up with that? What made her so different from the other humans? Why didn't she run away in fear when she first met him? Why him?

Inuyasha shook his head trying to free his head from the countless questions that had started tormenting him again.

While he waited for the familiar whistle and click of the kettle to announce that the water had successfully boiled, he went in the bathroom to brush out the few strands of his white silky hair that had gotten tangled while he slept.

_Sleeping_. That was something that he'd never been able to do before he started living with Kagome. He'd had to sleep with one eye open like a cat his entire life so far because he hadn't been able to trust anyone so far in his life.

Did that mean he trusted Kagome?

No way. That was impossible. The great Inuyasha trusted no one in this world because anyone he'd even remotely cared for had stabbed him in the back in the long run.

Inuyasha sighed and put his brush away after looking in his reflection from every angle in the mirror to make sure he'd gotten all the tangles. His ears perked up as he heard the distant whistle and click of the kettle, indicating that he needed to return to the kitchen to pour out his cup morning green tea in his _usual _mug.

The mug that Kagome had picked out for him. God, he hated the stupid thing, but he didn't have the heart to tell her he wouldn't use it. It was a red mug with little dog paws and white dogs running around it as its print. She'd gotten it for him when he first started living with her and he'd been using it ever since.

As he started preparing his breakfast, he heard the hammering noise of his female companion running out of her room at lightning speed towards the washroom. She was running late for work, once again. It was nothing he wasn't used to by now though, as Kagome was the last thing to a morning person. This had become routine by now. Inuyasha would wake up, get ready, and help Kagome out by preparing her coffee and breakfast on most mornings.

That was his sign to pour her a cup of tea and place her two pieces of bread in the toaster. As if on cue, she ran into the kitchen area, gasping for breath. Kagome had gotten skilled over the years at running the last minute morning marathon, if she admitted so herself.

And Inuyasha wouldn't be caught dead doing anyone favours like some dog in the presence of anyone else. Preparing Kagome a cup of tea with an audience? Fuck no.

"Thanks Inuyasha," Kagome replied as she hastily grabbed one of the pipping toasts that popped up. She nearly dropped it as she didn't realise how hot it was before she crammed it into her mouth all whilst she messily tied up her long raven hair into a ponytail.

"Morning," Inuyasha replied nonchalantly, used to her hastiness in the mornings.

Kagome chewed the bread she had stuffed into her mouth before asking, still with her mouth full, "You ready for today, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha nodded, pretending not to care one bit about the fact he'd have to come with her to campus. Why in the world did she want him to come with her, anyway? She hadn't really explained it to him, other than with some vague 'you need to make other friends than me Inuyasha' excuse. Something about exposing him to humans? Hadn't he seen and been mistreated by them enough, anyway? Keh.

Why should he even care? His thundering heartbeat and his high blood pressure would say otherwise though, betraying his tough-man actions and replies.

Indifferently, the white-haired man got up to leave after he took the remaining gulp out of his tea, which had reached room temperature. He grimaced when the lukewarm liquid made its way down his esophagus. Knowing he shouldn't leave his mug out, he placed it gently in the sink and sauntered towards the stairs.

Kagome observed him exit the room quietly. He'd made so much progress. Heck, he had not only learned to express himself but also started to learn how to conduct himself around others. And how to be a decent human being.

He seemed almost _human_. Too human. That kind of freaked her out.

That and she started to suspect every single one of her coworkers and students of being a demon. They'd be peaceful demons like Miroku had said, right? They'd have no other reason to go to school for otherwise, Kagome tried to convince herself.

The professor sat at the table to enjoy her remaining few bites of toast and sips of her tea before they got cold. And before her hectic day would start.

Maybe she had doubted her abilities to study Inuyasha and help him get rehabilitated. She'd have to thank Sango for all her help and support though, Kagome wasn't certain how she would have survived these past few months without her best friend.

Inuyasha returned a few minutes later, dressed in a plain white T-shirt, a burgundy cardigan and a pair of dark jeans that accented his features _well_. Well enough that Kagome noticed that her test subject wasn't just _any_ plain man. He was a very _handsome_ man.

"Ya ready to leave now?" he questioned, interrupting her train of thoughts as he took a seat across from her.

"Almost. Do you have the bag and notebooks I gave you?"

"Yea, they're both by the door."

"Good. Then we should be about ready to leave then," she exclaimed as she rose from her chair, also putting her dishes in the sink. They could deal with them when they got home tonight.

As she saw him starting to put on his black sneakers, she couldn't stop thinking about everything they'd accomplished so far as a pair.

She'd prepared him as much as she could over the course of a week. She'd trimmed him nails, which no matter the amount of times she cut, remained slightly sharp, which had just resulted in her giving up with their shape. Kagome had gotten them to a relatively normal human size though, which she considered a success. The petite woman had also gotten him a black and red baseball cap to hide his most obvious inhuman feature- his pointy fluffy ears that stood proudly above his head. The final touch of her preparations had been showing him various ways to style his hair. It had taken the man a few times practicing the intricate but gentle hand motions, but he'd gotten the hang of it in no time flat.

And with that, the two of them walked towards the university.

* * *

It wasn't until they reached the campus grounds that they realised that today would not be a regular day.

Something felt _off._

They made their way towards the main area of the path which joined up with the main entrance of the campus. However, today, it wasn't filled with students walking frantically in every direction, trying to make it in time for their next class.

Police vehicles and a handful of officers filled the entrance by walking around the barricaded area surrounded with yellow do-not-cross tape.

Being the curious woman that she was, Kagome approached an officer who she deemed looked nice enough that she could squeeze some information out of.

Using the sweetest voice possible, she approached the brown-haired officer adorned with a gentle baby face, "Hum, Officer? My name's Kagome Higurashi and I'm a professor at the University. Would you mind telling me what's going on here? I have a class in half an hour, but I'm worried about my students' safety."

"Oh? You're a professor? Then maybe I can say a little," he muttered to himself, under his breath, but still loud enough for both Inuyasha and Kagome to hear, "There's been an _incident_. I can't give you the exact details of it, but we believe it's related to the earlier incidences of disappearance over the past school year. At the moment however, we don't suspect that the campus is dangerous as we speak."

Well, that was disappointing, Kagome thought. She'd only got him to spill a bit of the beans, which didn't satiate her curiosity in the least.

"Thank you so much Officer-" she asked, pausing at the end, still trying to be as friendly as possible.

"Hojo. Officer Hojo, Miss Higurashi."

Kagome beamed at him and thanked him for his time. Inuyasha wanted to heave. He heard the poor lad's heart beat rise and his scent spike as soon as she had smiled at him. Sheesh, Kagome was a terrifying woman. It almost felt as if she had everyone wrapped around the tip of her fingers.

The two parted ways with the commotion and started making their way towards their destination, the building where she'd host today's lecture. She had noticed that the furthest into the campus they went and the thicker the student population became, the closer her companion was walking towards her. He was so close to her that he was practically glued to her back.

"Inuyasha? Are you feeling all right?"

"Ngh," was the only sound she received as a reply.

Thankfully, they had almost reached the lecture hall and wouldn't have to walk much further. She felt the urge to reassure him, hug him and try to take the fear away from him. But by this point in her experiment with him, she knew that it would only make him more distant with her. He'd try to run away from her.

She'd learned that his emotions were like a big ball of toilet paper shoved down a clogged toilet, and he'd have to open up to her at his own pace. Flushing it would only make it flood, having to clean up the mess, only to be right back where they started. His progress had been slow, but it had also been steady.

When they arrived at the lecture hall which had already started getting filled as the class was about to start in the next few minutes, Inuyasha knew that he'd have to separate himself from her.

He glanced around nervously for open seats as close to her as possible, just like they had talked about before his time on campus. Thankfully, there were still a few open seats in the front row, but they all had people flanking them on both sides. Inuyasha swallowed loudly as he weaved his way through the row of sitting students to get to an empty spot.

He was on edge and Kagome could tell from her place at the podium from his severe expression.

Inuyasha tried his best to not touch any of the adjacent students, but that was never something possible in a crammed lecture hall. He accidentally elbowed the female student sitting to his right as he leaned over to place his bag beside him and flinched, bracing himself for the hit he was expecting to receive for having touched someone.

She didn't even look at him.

That made no sense.

Every instinct in his core had told him to prepare himself against the beating he was about to receive from the humans for his actions.

Yet, nothing happened. The girl simply kept chatting with her friend sitting beside her.

Quickly gathering up his nerves, he mumbled, "Sorry," as he unzipped his bag and removed the green notebook Kagome had purchased for him. He reached in for the bag that contained the pens, pencils and erasers.

Pencil case? Was that what she'd called it before? He'd have to ask her tonight about it to double check.

His ears under his hat had perked up when the female voice in the microphone started resonating throughout the classroom.

As he looked up towards Kagome, the slides she had been working on during the previous evening were projected on the large screens behind her. He'd seen nothing like it before.

"For today's lecture, we'll be looking at several therapies that exist for psychological disorders."

* * *

The class had ended with no disturbances. Inuyasha had patiently waited for her at his seat until the line of students that had gone to talk to her after her class had ended dwindled.

Inuyasha had surprised himself by writing bits and pieces of her lecture in his notebook, mostly just to practice his motor skills. Despite his newly developed reading skills, writing still proved to be rather difficult as he just didn't seem to have the trick to form the various Japanese characters. He'd still get confused about their orders and his hands were still relatively shaky when it came to jotting them down.

"Sorry Inuyasha," she said as she unplugged her computer from the podium projector and stuffed it in her black over the shoulder bag, "Are you ready to go now?"

"Yeah, what's next for the day?"

"Would you mind hanging out a bit at the library? I have to fill out a few reports and mark a few assignments in my office before I can leave for the day. I know a few spots that are relatively quiet."

She instructed him on how to get there when he reluctantly agreed to get separated from her in the large campus. Despite him not having a cell-phone though, she knew that he could find her by scent alone since he'd proven capable of doing so time and time again these past months on their various shopping trips and downtown walks.

Kagome finally got to her office, sighed when she sank down into her office chair and took a few seconds to recollect herself. Despite her relatively quiet morning, she just felt so drained. The professor knew that she'd only have a few hours to work on what she had to do since Inuyasha was the type of person to get bored _fast_, especially when not given anything to do.

She'd given him a wallet with a bit of cash inside if he'd wanted to go exploring, although she highly doubted that, which was the main reason she'd instructed for him to go to the library though. But hey, who knows, he was a stubborn guy and only listened to her half of the time.

The woman bent over and removed her laptop from her bag, opened it up and started working.

She hadn't even been able to tell the amount of time that had elapsed since she last checked it. It wasn't until she felt a pressure on her shoulder that she snapped back to reality.

"Kagome?" the gruff voice asked as he squeezed her left shoulder.

She turned to face the source of the voice, the darker-toned male with his long black hair tied in his signature pony-tail, "Yes Kouga?"

The psychology professor tried her best not to squirm under his unwanted touch.

"Have you heard?"

She had no idea what he was going on about in the slightest. So, she shook her head in response, the confusion clear on her face from the question he asked her.

"About the student. Apparently it's the third disappearance this year, and all of them are female students. And to make matters worse, they found the remains of the first victim at the spot where the third student presumably disappeared at," he continued, anger lacing his voice from the disturbing events.

Oh. That would explain the police presence this morning.

"Do you know if they have any leads?" Kagome asked, inquisitively.

"Nah, I'm not sure honestly. I just wanted to warn you, that's all. They officially deemed the madman doing this a serial killer, so security on campus will get tighter," the male professor answered, directly gazing into her eyes.

"Oh, okay, thanks for letting me know Kouga," she nervously replied as she felt the man getting closer to her, having grazed her other shoulder with his hand now.

His tall frame towered over her petite one, especially since she was sitting down, making her several heads shorter than him. She felt pinned down. As if he was a hungry predator, and she was a cowering prey. She squirmed under the gaze of his icy-blue piercing eyes.

She tried her best to keep calm and not let her fear bubble up. No one had ever made her feel that uncomfortable before. Not even Inuyasha when she first met him.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" a booming voice barked from the other side of the room.

Kouga's hands were off of her shoulders in a flash. She had heard a low rumbling sound. Could it be a growl?

It was emanating from the professor that was now a few feet away from her as he faced the room's intruder.

"And what in the world do you want, you sad excuse for a mongrel?" Kouga snapped back at the man standing at the doorway.

"I should ask you the same thing, you mangy wolf!" the voice boomed as the figure disappeared as quickly as she had seen it appear.

There stood Inuyasha, acting as if he was a flesh barrier between her and the other professor. He had his claws extended, his back arched and completely blocking her from view from the wolf demon.

A growl erupted from the dog demon's throat as Kouga lunged at him with all of his force. Inuyasha had no difficulties fighting back, easily deflecting his kicks and strike back with a few claw swipes of his own.

"She's mine you damn fucking dog," Kouga huffed in between the blows being exchanged.

"In your dreams, you scrappy wolf! Kagome can decide that for herself," he countered as he pushed the wolf demon into another professor's desk.

The crunching sound of the wood snapping echoed throughout the nearly empty room. Dust and papers flew in every direction as the body of the wolf demon made contact with the piece of furniture.

"Inuyasha, stop! That's enough," Kagome cried out as she stumbled in his direction trying to avoid the piles of papers, binders and cups that had made their way onto the floor from the rumble.


End file.
